Growing Pains
by OokamiHybrid
Summary: The tale of the seven nameless pups at the end of BD. The struggles they, their families, and their adult pack go through. The pain of being a child forced to grow up too soon. The fear of imprinting, of killing someone without meaning to. Darkfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Growing Pains**

She was scared, so scared. She jerked upright in bed, little body trembling as the beast tried to take hold of her. It clawed at her insides, tore at her mind. She sobbed, shoving small hands over her mouth in an attempt to stifle it. She didn't want her mommy or daddy to know she was crying; they were already so worried because of all of her nightmares.

In reality, nothing bad had happened. There had been talking, and the cold ones with the red eyes had left. There was no fighting. No one got hurt. No one had died. She remembered staring at her paws - _her paws, for cryin' out loud! -_ and shaking. There were too many voices in her head, too much at once. She couldn't handle it.

Sarah wailed. She heard her mother leap from bed, sensitive ears alert to all around her. She could hear her father muttering, _what's wrong, what's wrong?_ as he dragged himself up. Her mother's footsteps were light as she rushed to Sarah's door. The click of the hallway light as her father followed, the high pitched, irritating squeal of squeaky door hinges as her mother pushed it open. She'd never really noticed that noise before, but _now_.

"Sarah, honey? Sweetheart?" Her mother sat at the edge of her bed, reaching for her, when Sarah whimpered and hiccuped again.

Ashamed, the little girl lowered her eyes. Tears escaped them, unhidden, as she struggled for the words. "Mommy." She keened as her mothers hand stroked her cheek, her hair, wiped her tears away. "Mommy, I wet the bed." She whispered, shame burning so deep inside of her she felt sick.

She began to shake. She could feel it beginning to crawl over her skin again, and _she didn't know_, she didn't know how to _control_ it and -

Her mother began to sing. The voice was soothing, familiar, and Sarah focused on that. Her father was there finally, lifting her from her bed and walking carefully to the bathroom. Her mother joined a few minutes later, after stripping her bed.

Her father bathed her, lovingly, as her mother continued to sing. She felt sleepy again when she was removed from the tub, dried with a towel warmed from her mothers body, which had hugged it close to her chest as she waited.

That night the six year old slept between her parents, and the dreams didn't come back. Still, in her sleep she fidgeted and worried because tomorrow when she went to play with James down the street, she wouldn't _really_ be playing with James. She'd be with him at a Pack meeting, surrounded by adults, and when she phased they'd all see that she wet her bed. Sarah didn't want that.

Her mother watched her brow furrow and she worried as well. She worried about her baby, who carried the weariness of a grandmother in her eyes. She worried about the time a few weeks ago, when they couldn't find a few children.

She worried about torn clothes, about wet sheets, about the activity in the woods. She worried but she slept, and in the morning, she did the laundry. She watched Sarah go outside, "Goin' to James' mommy," being called over her young daughters shoulder.

She stared out the window, across the street at one Sue Clearwater's house and she _worried_.

ZZZ

"I don't want to go." James muttered, scratching at his scabbed elbow. He had slipped on the stairs outside his house, rushing to meet Sarah. The wound was already healing. Thankfully, his mom hadn't seen that. The woman had started asking a heck of a lot of questions, one's he wasn't prepared for. Nine years old was way to early to be dealing with this crap.

Mom had always said the only thing she hated worse than theif was a liar, and he was the latter. Did that mean she hated him? His heart stung at the thought.

"Me neither, but we have to...Jacob said it was mand...mana..."

"Mandatory." Marie Neilson, a girl from two blocks over chirped softly. Sarah was surprised she hadn't heard the girl coming.

"Yeah, that." Sarah finished lamely, looking down at her shoes. They were starting to get holes in the toes, but mom really couldn't afford new ones, and they weren't leaking yet. She'd live.

"You okay?" Marie was seven, and a really pretty girl. All the boys in Sarah's grade had crushes on her. Which really wasn't that fair at all, because Sarah thought she was kinda cute herself, but...Oh well.

"Yeah. We should get going."

James sighed, resigned. "Yeah. Come on." He grabbed Sarah's hand - they were crossing a street, and you _always_ buddied up and held hands when crossing a street - and watched as Marie grabbed the other one. He and Marie were the older ones, so they had to watch out for Sarah. Is was their job.

"_Into the woods to bring some bread, to Granny who is sick in bed, never can tell what lies ahead, for all I know, she's already dead_." Marie sang in a soft voice, eyes startlingly hard as she stared straight at the woods. Sarah shuddered between them, squeezed their hands tighter. "_Into the woods, it's time to go, it may be all in vain, I know. Into the woods- but even so,I have to take the journey."_

"Into the woods?" Sarah asked, as they broke the tree line and climbed over a rotting log.

"Into the woods." James assured, holding onto her tighter. He had to admit, being what he was...the world around him looked brighter. More vibrant. He could hear a chipmunk digging below their feet as they successfully scaled their obstacle.

"Straight into the Lion's Den." Marie said confidently. pulling her shoulders back and thrusting her head into the air.

"No, the wolves' den."

The children started at the new voice, ears straining to figure out where it was coming from.

"You three need to pay better attention." Leah stepped easily over the log, eyeing three of their seven newest members. "And Marie, stop being so...morbid. Into the Woods? Really?"

"Well, I thought it fit." Marie muttered, chastised. The wolf inside of her trembled at the dominace in Leah's voice.

"Come on. I'll lead the way." Leah sighed. She had always wanted a sister - both as a normal human, and later as a wolf - and now she had two. She just wished the circumstances were different. The life she led was no place for a child.

"What are they doing here?" Sarah whispered. Her voice wouldn't rise above the soft noise, and she could feel a tremble starting. It wasn't the ripping tremble though. It was one of fear. Her Pack turned to face her, glad to see that Leah had found their three straying members.

"Who?" Jake asked, head tilting to the left. His mannerisms were so doglike sometimes, James didn't know how people _didn't_ know what they were. "Oh? The Cullens?" He strode quickly to Sarah, dropping to a squat in front of her. "They're going to help you learn how to fight. Jasper here taught me, and we figured he could teach you too. We don't want you to have to fight, but one day, that might happen. The Cullen's live close, their smells might set one of you off. We need to train you to be calm, to be strong."

"I don't want to." She breathed, staring past Jacob and at Emmett. He was big, wolf big...not to mention a lot more dangerous to her than any of her Pack would ever be.

"Sarah. Look at me." Jacob's voice became deeper, harsher. She trembled again, eyes snapping to her Alpha in fear. "We have to do this, Sarah. We don't want you to hurt your family, or any other kids. Do you want to hurt your mom or dad?"

Leah visibly twitched at the tone, the words he was using on the child. He paid her no mind, watched as tears welled up in Sarah's eyes. "No."

"I didn't think so. So we need to be brave, okay? Jasper won't hurt you. Will you feel better if it's Doc Cullen, or Alice?" She shook her head. No. "Okay, then. We're going to get you to go first, because you're the youngest. You'll have to try the hardest. It isn't going to be easy honey, I know. Now I need you to phase for me. Leah."

The older shewolf knew what to do. She took Sarah's hand and led the girl behind some trees, turning her back as the little girl stripped. She tried to ignore the soft sniffles she heard, but her heart thumped painfully in her chest. This wasn't right. It just, wasn't right.

"I need you to phase now Sarah. You have to try and concentrate." Jacob called when the rustling stopped. The older pack could care less about nudity but naked children running around wasn't a good idea, at all.

There was a low, pain filled whine as Sarah's body did what her Alpha commanded it to do. The pups phasing was slow, every bone in her body breaking and popping audible to everyone else present. Jacob stared passively until the muffled cries of pain stopped, until two little cream colored ears poked over the top of the bush.

Sarah leaned on Leah's side, just a bit larged than a real, everyday wolf. She was heaving, bile rising from the pain. She stopped, vomited, began to whimper. The older shewolf stroked her youngest sisters head, gently helped her to start walking again.

Leah decided that she fucking _hated_ Jacob.

"All right. I need my calmest wolves here. You know who you are."

Sam, Jared and Embry moved forward without hesitation, stripping down and phasing. Their transformations were quick, effortless. Sarah envied them. In her head _Into the Woods_ played over and over. She was scared she was going to wet herself - wet herself, oh _God_ why did she have to think of that?

_Jesus_, Embry swore softly. His eyes were full of sympathy and he flattened to his belly, crawling to his little sister. He nuzzled her neck, told her it was okay.

Sam's voice filled the phased wolves' head, assuring Sarah that these things happened, there was nothing she could do about it, and if she had another nightmare she could call Emily, or Leah, or even Sam himself.

Jacob knew there was something going on, and he allowed his wolves to talk as he approached Jasper. "Go easy on her, she's only a baby." He said quietly to the vampire. "If you can, maybe help...calm her down a bit."

Jasper nodded, didn't hesitate in wrapping his mind around Sarah, forcing her to be calm. She knew it wasn't her own doing, but she was relieved that her bladder had settled and that she was no longer trembling. Slowly, she turned to face the vampire.

He began to walk towards her. "All right, Sarah." He used her name, addressed her directly. "I'm not going to hurt you, we're just going to work on teaching you how to evade being hit. Jacob said that if you ever get near a vampire, he doesn't want you fighting, he wants you to call for help and keep away. So we're going to teach you how to do that for your Alpha." He allowed the Southern lilt to fill his voice, another tool in soothing a worried mind. That voice was gentler, softer, more inviting.

"Your brothers are going to help walk you through it, tell you where to go. Just listen, and don't be scared. This is only practice. Think of it like a game of tag, and Jasper's it." Seth offered, standing beside his real sister, a hand on James' shoulder. The young boypup didn't like having Jasper so close to Sarah, who he had been friends with nearly his entire life.

Sarah took a deep breath, steadied herself. Tried to focus. She liked tag. It was fun. She could _do_ this. 

Jasper moved slow, feigning to the right. He watched as the pup crouched, tail swishing in the air. She looked almost playful, and he was glad they had made this into a game, that his powers worked on wolves. She was tense, ready to wrestle or dodge away.

She looked like a giant puppy.

As she leaned further to the right, muscles coiled, he lunged left. She yapped, jumped. Barely, she avoided him. Still, he was proud, and so was Jake. Slowly but surely, Jasper picked up the pace. It was a game of cat and mouse, with Sarah bouncing away from him. Until she decided she would bounce back.

Excited, energetic, playful, the giant shepup leapt at Jasper, teeth bared. It wasn't meant to be threatening, but those teeth could rip him. His granite arm grasped her neck, slammed her down. Not meant to hurt, just meant to show his dominance and -

Horrified he let the pup go. The pack hadn't attacked him, had been expecting the pup to get carried away but...

She was whimpering on the ground, tail tucked between her legs and they could all _smell_ it let alone _see_ it. The six year old shepup had wet her fur in fear.

"Oh for fucks sake Jacob, you piece of shit." Leah snarled, slamming her elbow into her Alpha's chest, nearly breaking a rib as she stalked forward to their youngest. "Get out of here." She snarled again, spinning on the vampire's and then on her Pack. "_Now!_" The shewolf screamed, the scream ending in a roar as her clothes shredded and she became a wolf.

Jacob watched her, calmly, then nodded. "Clear out everyone. We're calling it a day for now. Same time tomorrow. Marie, your turn tomorrow."

Marie stared at her Alpha, wide eyed and horrified. She grabbed James again, scuttled back the way they had originally come. The phased wolves aside from the girls turned human, slipped away into the afternoon for their patrols, which they'd do on two feet for now. At least until Sarah had calmed down.

The rest of the Pack hesitated, wanting to comfort their youngest sister, before they too left. Quil walked the twinpups home.

Jasper apologized once to Jacob, before the vampires and the Alpha wolf left together, leaving behind a shamed little girl and an angry woman.

ZZZ

"Here honey." Leah stood in the water, naked and holding Sarah against her leg. The river was rapid here, but it had been the closest moving water. Push had come to shove, and they had gone. Sarah didn't mind being naked around Leah, nor did she mind Leah being naked around her. She was still young enough that she showered with her mother.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault, it's Jacob's fault. He's an asshole." Leah stooped low to help splash water over Sarah. "If you want to sit, I've got you."

The little girl didn't like curse words, but she sat anyway, leaning against the strong legs of her sister. She had always wanted a big sister, and Leah seemed like the perfect one, even if - to Sarah, anyway - she was more motherly than anything else.

"I don't mean to." She murmured finally. "I just can't help it."

"You're still a little girl, Sarah. These things happen. It's not your fault, and Jasper was an idiot for doing what he did. No one's mad at you, no one thinks you did bad. You did good today, really good. I'm so proud of you. You lasted a long time. So what if you got a little over excited? Jasper had no right to grab you like that, and the next time he does, I'm going to rip his fuckin' arm off." Leah grabbed the little girl under the arms, hauling her up. "Lets say you and sun dry before we get dressed again, okay?"

Sarah had never sun dried before, she was used to having a towel waiting, but oh well. It sounded fun, and no one else was around. The girls lay on the bank of the river, staring at the canopy of trees above them. It was a rare sunny day, the grass beneath them dry, warm. She felt her eyes growing heavy, but forced herself to stay awake. She liked spending time with Leah.

"Does this happen at home?"

"Sometimes." Sarah admitted.

Leah thought back to the frantic _I'm sorry_ and slowly raised herself to her elbows. "Do your parents get mad?" She asked, voice low. She could feel herself becoming angry.

"Nope. Mommy'n daddy real nice about it." The little girl slurred. Her eyelids drooped and Leah allowed a smile, nearly as rare as a sunny day in La Push.

"C'mon kiddo. Let's get you dressed then I'll walk you home." She helped the girl stand, again - the fourth time that day, _fuck_ - and helped the sleepy child get dressed. When stumbling feet caught roots too many times, Leah scooped the pup into her arms.

She set the girl down at the forest edge and walked with her to her porch. She watched until she was certain Sarah had gone inside, to her mothers arms, sleepy and warm and young. She walked across the street to her own house, where her mother glanced at her absently, before turning away.

Silently, Leah promised herself she'd do everything in her power to help Sarah, to help all of the pups. This wasn't the life she wanted for them, she knew it wasn't the lives they wanted for themselves. As she walked to her room, she realized she didn't know _what_ to do.

Still, she'd think of something. She had to. She'd help the pups stop phasing, and then she would stop phasing too.

Leah thought that after that happened, she'd leave. Leave La Push, leave the state, maybe the country or the continent. Leah's brow furrowed and as she slept, she worried.


	2. Chapter 2

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Two**

"How was school today, love?" Sarah's mother, Grace asked softly. She smoothed a hand over her daughters messy ponytail, giving it a playful tug as she finished. "Did you have fun?" The first day was always rough, but Sarah had the same kids in her class every year - plus, James from down the street ate lunch with her and that other little girl...what was her name? Marie Neilson, her. She had been playing with them a lot too, although she lived on Alder, not Church.

"It was okay." It hadn't really been okay, not at all. She had broken three red crayons before she had gentled her grip enough to not crush the wax between her fingers. She hadn't quite realized the _strength_ her wolf gave her. After that, the red on her white paper had been heavy handed, dark. She had been reminded on pale flesh and red eyes, those of vampires who could have destroyed her entire world, just that summer. Her stomach had felt queasy and she had given up on drawing.

She had also opened her own pack of crayons from home and gotten rid of all her shades of red. It used to be her favorite, but she thought maybe blue would be a better choice. For the sky, for human eyes, for the rain that brought _life_. Sarah felt old all of a sudden, and slumped against her mothers legs, yawing to herself. "It was okay." She repeated, feeling the need to reassure them both.

A knock at the door stopped Grace from asking anything else. She nudged her daughter away with her knee, lightly, before heading to answer. "Oh, James." She smiled at the boy. She really did like him - he was a handsome little thing, with dark eyes and hair. He'd be a heartbreaker when he grew up. In his left hand, he held a pair of swim trunks.

"Hi, Mrs. Thompson." He mumbled, shy. Sarah's mom was a pretty lady and she was kind, but he found it difficult to talk to other peoples parents, even if Grace _had_ known him since the day he was born. She had held his mother's hand in the hospital room, when his father had zonked out and fainted. "I was wonderin' if Sarah and I could go swimming in the back?"

"Of course. Would you like some cookies?" She let the child in, twisting back into the kitchen to turn the oven off. The melted butter in the pan was still sizzling, but she left it. She fetched a small plate, her jar of cookies - burnt, as they always were, but she knew Sarah and James would eat them happily - and set about getting their milk.

"Thanks Mrs. Thompson." He slid into a seat beside Sarah, giving her a meaningful look. She hadn't met him at the woods, like she was supposed to. She merely shrugged, looking down at her muddy shoes that were kicking the air lightly. He figured it couldn't be helped. She hadn't had an easy day, he knew.

"Don't worry about it Jamie. When you two are done head on out back. Make sure to holler at me, though. It's not safe to swim alone."

Technically, in their kiddie pool they could only sit and _splash_, but mothers worried. It was their job. So the children nodded, they ate their cookies, and then James got changed in the bathroom while Sarah ran to her room for her _black_ one piece instead of the red one.

James was outside before Sarah, slipping the hose into the big plastic pool. It was blue, with faded fish designs all over the bottom. Sarah had had it since she was about two, and the first summer she got it had been _awesome_. They really were too large for it at their age, but it was still fun. He ignored the leftover rainwater mucking the bottom. They walked through the gunk everyday, what difference would it make to sit in it?

He slid into the pool as Sarah called for her mom, running down the back steps. She leapt, actually made it - for once, and hey, cool. Wolf powers - water cascading all over James. He grunted and rubbed at his eyes, spitting a leaf at Sarah.

Grace laughed quietly from her kitchen window, eyeing the children fondly. Sure, it was weird, a boy and a girl that got along so well despite three years of an age difference, but...she couldn't complain. James was a good kid, his mother was a good friend, and she loved watching her husband have his weekly chess games with James' dad, nerdy as it was.

Content that she could make sure they were safe, she flicked the burner back on, listening intently for the familiar sizzle of melting butter. It wasn't healthy, but they hadn't had fried pork chops in a long while and mmm, they were tasty. Sarah had had an exceptionally large appetite as of late, and it was a Monday. Monday's were boring days that need pick-me-up's so, fried pork chops it was.

She was contemplating calling James' parents to ask if he could stay for dinner, when a flash of movement caught her eye. Thinking that perhaps a deer had wandered in - their house backed into the woods off of Church - she reached for her camera. Only, it wasn't a deer. She could see russet, her heart siezing as the thoughts of wolves and bears filled her mind. Her hand dropped the camera, grabbed the cast iron pan instead. She shifted to the left, wanting to make _certain_ there was danger before she rushed out. Startling a dangerous animal wouldn't end well, not with the babies between her and it.

Only, it wasn't a wolf or a bear. It was one Seth Clearwater, naked as the day he was born, crouching amongst the bushes framing her yard. _She_ could see everything, every last _naked inch_ of him as he leaned forward, mouth opening as he stared at the children, the children in the _pool_ and _oh God_.

Before Grace could think, she was reacting, flying out the back door, down the back steps, hot butter spilling over the edge of the iron pan still clutched tightly in her hand. None landed on her, thankfully, and the shrill voice that broke the evening air startled her, until she realized it was _her_ screaming like a banshee.

"_Seth Clearwater what the __**fuck**__ do you think you're doing?"_ She screeched, already past the children. Sarah was scrambling to get out of the pool as the pan went flying through the air. Boiled butter hit the grass, hit Seth's _face_ seconds before the burning hot pan connected. She saw blood dripping down his nose as the crunch of it breaking interupted her. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She was flying at him, hitting him.

He was stumbling over his words, trying to grab her wrists, to stop her from hitting him. She had no idea that her fist connecting with his face would hurt, that he was trying to save her from broken bones. Rage ran her body as she clawed at his eyes, screaming, screaming, screaming. "Mrs Thompson, I didn't I - It's not -"

"I don't care if your fathers dead or _what_ drugs you're on get the _**fuck**_ off of my property!" She heard a car door slamming, realized it was her husband, felt relief. He was coming down the back steps then, faster than she had, livid with rage. His eyes, hidden by thick glasses were black with anger as he reached them.

"Grace what in the hell - Sarah! James! Get inside, now!" He roared at the kids. Sarah wailed, tears rolling down her face.

"Mommy, daddy, Seth's not a bad man, he'd never hurt us -" Somehow, her words made her mother more frantic, her father more livid.

"I said _now_ Sarah! That's an order, not a request!"

Sarah was tired of getting orders but Seth was shooting her a look, so she listened. She grabbed James' hand and rushed back inside, to her room. She got dressed, knowing James would be doing the same.

"Mrs Thompson this is all a huge misunderstanding, I swear it! It - I. I was pranked, at school, they ah, they took my my clothes."

"Yeah, Clearwater. We're going to believe someone took the clothes off of a guy your size." Sarah's dad snarled, shoving closer to the naked teenager. "Get the fuck off of my property. Grace, go inside and call the cops."

Cops, that would mean Charlie. He had requested anything La Push be sent his way. He'd sort it out, or at least make it go away - in the records, anyway. Seth relaxed, saw that it angered Mr Thompson more, tensed himself again. Easier to make the man think he was afraid.

"It was aah, Brady and the guys. You know, my friends? It was just a joke, and so I walked through the woods, tried to get to my place, didn't expect any kids to be out so late, so..."

His lie wasn't working, and he could hear sirens. They were far away, but soon Charlie'd be there. "I'm sorry, really, can I just - just go home?" He swallowed thickly, wanting to call his Alpha and give him a heads up.

"I already said get the fuck off my property. I don't care where you go, Clearwater. Just get. Go on. Get." He shoved the teen in the shoulder, hard, stared at the blistering bubbles on his face. He wondered why Seth wasn't screaming in pain, then figured it was just the drugs. "Get."

Seth backed away slowly, hands over his crotch, and he left. He didn't go home though. Instead, he phased and threw his head back, howling once he was far enough away. The sirens were at the Thompson house, and soon James' family would know as well.

All the wolves knew that howl well enough that they slide from their families and into the woods. It was one of the first howls they had been taught; there was an emergency. Not vampire bad, but bad nonetheless.

For the first time since he had joined, Seth called a meeting. One that he really, really wished he hadn't ever had to call.

ZZZ

There was a cop car outside Grace's house, and Anne feared for her son. She was smacking her husband in the head, trying to wake him up from the couch when her phone rang. She ignored it, hitting him harder. "Get up, get up! James could be in trouble fool!" She hissed.

At the sound of his sons named, Greg stirred. He yelped in pain as his wife's finger accidentally caught him in the eye. "Christ, Anne! I'm up! I'm up!" He cried, grabbing her dainty fingers and hauling himself off the couch.

It took another minute and a half for him to shove his feet into his slippers and grab a coat. Anne herself was in her bathrobe, hair pinned to the top of her head in a fluffy pink towel. She tightened the robe around her body as she hurriedly walked down the street, Greg a few steps behind her.

There was no one outside, and Anne didn't bother with knocking. She pushed the door of the Thompson house open, heading to the living room. "Grace, where's James? Grace?" She sounded frantic, voice rising in panic.

"He's in here, Anne. He's fine, I promise." Her best friend called back. Her voice was filled with weariness, a tone hardly ever used by Grace Thompson. She was a quiet, happy person by nature.

"What's going on?"

"We found Seth Clearwater naked in the bushes while the kids were playing in the pool." Grace deadpanned. She didn't look away from Charlie Swan's face, eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "I'd like to speak to a different officer, Charlie."

"Afraid I can't do that, I'm the responding officer for this area." He replied smoothly, meeting the womans gaze calmly.

"How would you feel if you had a little girl, and some teenaged boy was sitting in the woods naked, watching her?" Her voice was like ice, dripping with venom as they stared each other.

"Well if that boy was Seth, I'd know it was an accident and that he's a good kid. He didn't mean anything by this Anne."

"So you expect us to believe that someone took that boy's clothes, and he walked home naked rather than calling that - oh what's his name? Those Paul or Jared kids, the older ones. That boys running with a gang, Swan, and he's a pervert. We want to press charges." Enpay crossed his arms, felt Greg squeeze into the living room to stand beside him. Together, the two fathers created a barrier between Charlie and the door.

"Oh God. James." Anne moved to the children on the couch, pressing one of them into each of her sides. She closed her eyes, tried to calm herself. "I always thought...he was always such a nice boy..."

"Look. How about you let me talk to Seth, and I'll figure out what was going on? I'll have a report typed up when I finish at the office tonight. If anything else happens - anything at all, give me a call. If you can't wait to talk to me, go to Billy. He'll straighten things out."

Grace clenched her jaw, ground her teeth together. "Fine." She said in a clipped tone, turning to her husband. "Let him leave. We'll talk to Billy." Only, no. They wouldn't talk to Billy, because he had Seth at his house everyday, fed the kid, took care of him. He spent all his time with Sue and the other insanely large teens in the area. Billy was just as bad. However, they wouldn't call Charlie ever again either.

It was clear to the four parents present that Charlie Swan wasn't on the publics side. Whatever secret or perversion was running through La Push, Charlie Swan was a part ofit. No, if you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself.

Grace didn't work and she resigned herself to watching. She'd keep an eye on that Clearwater house, and when the time came, she'd do something about this. After Charlie was gone, she and Anne settled at the kitchen table, while the men watched TV with the children.

Together they wrote up a schedule because never again would Sarah or James walk to or from school alone. Things were going to change in La Push, and their two children were first. They only hoped the other parents would follow their example, and soon. Something dangerous was happening, and their kids were becoming involved.

Only, Anne and Grace didn't know just how involved their children already were. They didn't know that Bella Swan and Jacob Black had changed their children for forever. They didn't know that, ever since that day in the summer, there would be no going back.

They didn't know that under seven fresh, youthful faces in La Push lurked dangerous beasts, ones that were too large to be contained for too long. That seven children wore human flesh over ragged fur, that children they had birthed would grow up to be killing machines.

They didn't know, but maybe if they had...

Then again, maybe never matters.


	3. Chapter 3

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Three**

"What the hell Seth? What in the actual hell?" Leah's hand connected painfully with the back of her brother's head, causing him to wince. He rubbed at it, mindful of the burns that were still healing. Who knew hot grease and a frying pan could hurt so much?

"What'd he do now?" Jared grinned, shoving another forkful of scalloped potatoes into his mouth. A piece missed, slid down his chin, and Kim grimaced that time. The wolves were all pigs - and Leah was _not_ the exception, despite the one night she had tiredly declared she was one _damn classy_ bitch.

"Showed up naked at Sarah's house." Jacob took a turn at smacking his Beta, taking satisfaction in the whine of pain. "James was there. What the fuck kind of moron, Seth?"

"Dude, you walk around with shorts tied to your ankle. Try using them once in a while." Paul added, chucking a roll at Seth's head. It hit his burn, and he whined again.

"I get it, I get it, I was a dumbass. How come when I call a pack meeting we have it at Emily's, but when Jake calls one we do it in the woods all secret style? Come on guys, take me seriously for a minute. Sarah's mom called the cops."

"So what? Charlie showed up?" Paul snorted, picking up a second roll. He watched Seth tense, snorted again, then ripped the roll and buttered it. "It's not a big deal, shit happens. Charlie'll take care of it." Jacob cast his wolf a glare, causing Paul to hitch an eyebrow. "What man? My dad walked around the house naked when I was a kid, my mom walked around naked, whatever. Kids see naked bodies, and they're going to have to get used to it at some point."

"I kind of agree with Paul." Kim added. "I mean, my parents did the same when I was little. Granted, not all the time, but still."

Leah very kindly wanted to add that Kim's opinion didn't really matter, but she didn't think Jared would like that very much. Instead, she shook her head. "Right, because catching your mom or dad butt naked is the same as a strange teenage boy peeking at you from the bushes when you're in a swimsuit, Kim. The exact same thing."

"Leah, they're Pack -" Kim started.

The shewolf nipped that one in the bud. "Right. _They_ are Pack. _They_ know that we strip down buck naked, turn into giant wolves, and rip apart vampires. They know that Kim. Paul. _Seth_. The kids know that. Their parents don't know jack shit!" She was getting aggitated. "Do you think if their parents actually _knew_ what was going on, they'd be freaking about naked Seth? No. They'd be going _holy shit there could be a vampire somewhere nearby, lock the doors._"

"They can't know, Leah." Jacob scolded, settling beside his eldest Shewolf.

"They should know." She argued back. She was one of the only ones who didn't take Jacob's shit. Unless whammied with an Alpha order, that was. "Life would be easier if they knew. My mom knows. Your dad knows. Old Quil knows."

"Because they're on the council, Leah." Sam sounded exhasperated. "They need to know."

"We've been lucky so far. No one's died. But now we have a bunch of kids, kids with the same instinct as we do. What happens when someone fucks up, _Sam_?" Her eyes shot to Emily. "What happens when someone dies. Whether it's a human, or one of our own. What are we going to tell the parents when we bring back the shredded body of an eight year old, Sam?"

"Enough, Leah." Jake ordered, the weight of Alpha behind his voice as his Pack began to grow restless.

"Yeah, Jake. Enough. Figure it out Sam." Leah shoved away from the table, forcing herself to stand. "I'll catch you guys later. And Seth? Start wearing pants."

The Shewolf left, leaving the group in silence. Jacob could feel her shifting, feel the change in her body. She howled to signal the start of a patrol she wasn't schedule for. Quil gratefully phased out, returned to Emily's. He fed Claire silently as he sat with his Pack.

"So I guess the real issue here is me being spotted naked. Giant red flag, right?" Seth joked, trying to lighten to mood.

Quil flashed his teeth in a quick grin at his Beta. "Nope Seth, small red flag!"

Seth flung a hand over his heart, dramatically throwing himself backwards in his chair. "Oh Quil! You wound me! My flag post is huge."

Brady grinned, slyly, "That's not what K-"

"Shut up!" Seth took a turn at hurling roll's, catching Brady directly between the eyes. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody! Liar!" He threw a second, then a third roll for good measure.

"Dude, he told like, everyone. Super freaky psychic powers, remember." Collin made a face, tapping his temples.

"Aww man! Brady! Thoughts to yourself man!" Seth rubbed his face, not really all that embarressed at all. His flag pole _was_ huge, he just...struck out that one time. Okay, two times. Shut up.

"Claire's seen me naked, no one's said anything about that." He pointed out, remembering the time his Imprint's screams had had him rushing out of the shower, not even a towel in hand. The guys had thought it was hilarious, but he had been furious.

"Claire's Pack, Quil." Emily reminded. "She's an imprint. Plus it was an accident. Obviously if you willingly got naked in front of my niece I'd have Sam eat you. The two little wolves didn't care, it was their parents."

"I don't know _what_ I'd do if Old Quil didn't run my parents in circles for me." Quil groaned, settling further into his seat.

"You'd have an angry mom throwing shit at your head when you dragged your tired ass home at three am." Embry grumbled, taking a deep swig of his beer. It didn't do anything for him, but it was kind of cool to be seventeen and drinking booze. "Why can't I tell _my_ mom? If I'm not at school or on patrol, I'm stuck in my room 'cause I'm grounded."

"Because your mom spends an awful lot of time at the bar." Paul muttered, momentarily forgetting about the super senses _all_ the wolves were enhanced with. The table froze, falling still as eyes slowly turned to Embry.

He wasn't a dominant wolf, or a violent wolf, but Embry hated people talking about his mother. He lunged across the table, tackling Paul to the ground. Easily, he was thrown off, just barely avoiding Emily's front poor. He landed hard, didn't feel the impact, jumped up again.

"Woods. Now!" Sam barked, taking control as Jacob stared, shocked. He shoved Paul hard, forcing the man to turn and head towards the forest. "Go, Embry." Embry didn't need to be told twice. He hit the trees in wolf form, spinning to attack a still human Paul.

Paul wasn't human for long. Their fight dragged them closer to the middle - not really, no, it was Jacob's order that did that - of the forest, away from houses, away from prying ears. Howls, and barks, and snarls filled the woods. The natural wildlife of La Push slunk away into the underbrush.

Blood spotted the forest floor, mixing with mud to make the ground even more slick. Embry's paws slid from beneath him, Paul's teeth curled around his throat. They settled then, battle fought. Embry had tried hard to win, but he had lost. Still, he had done damage to Paul and...that was enough. That, and Paul was murmuring apologies into his head as he released Embry's throat, helped to pull him up by the scruff of his neck.

Jacob wondered how they had gone from a naked Seth, to an angry Leah, to a dog fight between Paul and Embry. He supposed that in a Pack like theirs, life was always going to unpredictable. Between vampires, raging hormones, and super strenght, hell yeah. Life was going to be unpredictable.

Jacob Black, Alpha of the La Push pack had no idea that life was just waiting to throw another curveball his way. No idea at all.

ZZZ

Three weeks. It had been _three fucking weeks_ since Jacob had seen two of his younger pups, Sarah and James. Three weeks. He couldn't catch them after school. Their mothers rotated shifts on who would pick them. They arrived thirty minutes early, ushered the kids into a car rather than walked, and took them home.

The children weren't outside by themselves anymore, and when they were? It was in Sarah's backyard, where Enpay and Greg had built a ten foot tall fence. It was a sturdy fence, but Jacob wasn't about to go breaking down his Pack's families hard work. That fence had cost them a good bit of money, had lowered the food budget in the Thompson household indefinately. His youngest wolf was _hungry_ now, and that wasn't good.

He couldn't catch them before school. The mothers dropped them off, fifteen minutes early, and waited until _all_ of the children were safe inside before they left. Recess was off limits, completely. Being caught on a school ground during kids' play time would only make more suspicions rise.

Not to mention his twin wolves - the Twinpup Two as Seth called them - were starting to get questions. Joseph and David were finding it harder and harder to keep their father from their business. They were too young to patrol, but they shadowed the elder wolves at night after bedtime, just to get extra training. They spent their weekends in the woods. Their father had begun to notice.

Wilbur had always kept odd hours and in doing so, was starting to notice his sons absences. He was getting calls from the school, telling him his children were sleeping during classes. Joseph, who had always been great at math, had fallen in a C range. Wilbur worked hard to do right by his children, had done so ever since his wife had left. He worked two jobs to put food on the table, but it wasn't enough anymore. His kids were growing, they were always eating.

Jacob wondered who the hell had decided it would make sense to turn kids into shape shifters. They couldn't work to support themselves, couldn't - but, no. The wolves had been around for years, long before an education system like the La Push Tribal School had been around. Back to when surviving was everyone's main instinct.

The other parents...they hadn't begun to notice anything, not yet, but they would. Probably soon. He would worry about that later though. At the moment, he needed to talk to Sarah and James. It had been too long.

Nessie was the perfect bait.

His imprint was settled on his hip as he knocked at the Thompson's door. Enpay answered, dark eyes narrowed behind his glasses. He glanced past Jacob, to Leah, then down to the little pale girl on Jacob Black's hip.

"Kidding children these days, rather than trying to attack them naked?" He drawled, leaning against the frame of his door. He wasn't as big as Jacob, but his love for his daughter made him brave. He used his body to shield the inside of his house from prying eyes.

"Sorry about the Seth thing." Jake apologized, smiling easily. "It really was a prank. A bad prank, but a prank none the less." He added, hoping to soften the admission. It did nothing to relax Enpay. "We were wondering if Sarah could come to a, ah, barbaque. At Emily's. You know, Leah's cousin?"

Enpay did know. "I don't think so. I don't want that Seth anywhere around my daughter. No offense, Clearwater."

"None taken." She replied smoothly, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's a dumbass, Mr Thompson. I'd have slaughtered him if I were you or your wife."

Aah, there it was. Enpay knew there was a reason he had always liked Leah, before that Uley boy had turned her against the world. He thought that maybe Leah had self esteem issues, being left for her very own cousin. She was a pretty girl though, long, slim and fit. He had never been close with Harry or Sue, but even he could remember a time when Leah's eyes weren't hard. He hoped one day she'd be able to smile again, and that it would reach her expression. "You're a good girl, Leah." He said softly, ignoring Jacob and the nameless child completely.

"I know. And Seth's a freakin' moron. But he's not a bad guy, Mr Thompson. If you let Sarah come, I can give you my word that he'll apologize to her and spend the night making her smile to make up for it."

"Why are you having a dinner anyway? With Emily?" He hinted, eyeing the girls face. Her expression stayed the same, but he could see her shoulders twitch, rising a bit. Made her look a little more boxish, more standoffish. Aah, so it was still a sore spot.

"It's this one's birthday." Jacob juggled Nessie again, grinning when the girl smiled sweetly at Enpay. Surprisingly, the man seemed unaffected by the beautiful childs grin. "The only other kid coming is a little girl named Claire, and Marie Neilson from around the corner. We kind of wanted to make it a special day for her." It wasn't her birthday, that was a downright lie, but it was a special day. It was the first day Edward had let Nessie out of his sight, the first day Jacob had her all to the Pack.

The man sighed heavily as if a great burden had been placed upon his shoulders. "I'll let her go. Not because of you, Black, but because Leah's asking and Sarah hasn't been playing with any girls her age since the incident. I want her home by eight." He told Leah.

"Anything you want, Mr Thompson." Except the truth, except for Seth never being a part of your daughters life. Anything except for that.

"I'll send her right out." He disapeared into the house. Moments later, Sarah materialized at the door.

"Mommy doesn't know I'm going, so daddy said we have to be quick before she starts yelling." She explained, tugging her black coat tighter around her shoulders. She wasn't actually cold - it was hard to be, with her temperature - but it was comforting to be so bundled up.

Leah hugged their youngest wolf to her hip, ruffling the girls hair. "Sweet. I missed you, kiddo." She scooped the girl into her arms, lengthening her strides so that by the time Grace began screaming, they were two blocks away.

"I missed you too Leah." Sarah admitted, wrapping her arms around the Shewolf's neck. "Who is she? She smells..."

"Different?" Jacob offered, as Nessie twisted to stare at the shepup.

His imprint smiled sweetly. "Hello, I'm Nessie Cullen." Around the wolves, she didn't bother using her full first name.

"That doesn't eshplain it." Sarah pointed out.

"We're in public right now, pup. Plus, James is waiting for you at Emily's. Don't you want to go see James and the others?"

Not really, she thought, seeing as she saw James literally everyday. She wasn't particularly excited to see the rest of her Pack either. They were supposed to be a family, but Sam always looked mad, and Paul...he looked scary. He looked like the old man who had lived next to her, before his wife kicked him out. Mommy hadn't told her much about that, but the screams spoke for themselves. She was always afraid Paul was going to hit her, the way he sometimes did to Embry, and Quil.

"What's wrong?" Leah asked, noticing the change in Sarah's scent.

"Just thinking, is all." The girl replied, content to be set on the front yard of Emily and Sam's house. She moved to James' side instantly, feeling calm settle over her again. She was always at her best, when she was with her best friend.

"Sawah!"

Oh, great. Claire. It wasn't that Sarah didn't like younger kids - she _loved_ playing dressup - it was just the _smallest_ things could set Claire off and while she hadn't seen it herself, it could apparently set Quil off too. Or so Joseph had told her when he snuck a talk in at lunch the other day.

The only Pack she'd seen as of late had been the ones that go to her school - which counted out everyone older than Joseph and David. Collin and Brady went to the public school, not the tribal one.

"Hi Claire." She accepted a hug from the toddler, careful not to squeeze her at all. "How are you?"

"Good." She shoved a thumb into her mouth sucking softly as she stared at Sarah. They were the closest in age, and Claire had developed a bit of hero-worship for the girl during the very brief time they'd had together.

"That's good." She shifted closer to James, not wanting to be too close to the fragile imprint.

"Can I sit with you guys?" Nessie asked hesitantly. Jacob had finally lowered her to the ground, the first time her feet had touched the floor since her wolf had picked her up from home.

"Yes, you can, at the kids table." Emily interupted, settling a hand on Sarah's head. She nudged the girl forward, to the small picnic table they had put together. Marie was already sitting there, shoulder to shoulder with Issac, the nine year old wolfpup.

The kids table was quiet, the wolves unsure about Nessie's smell, and Nessie unsure about Claire. It was awkward, tense, but the wolves couldn't bring themselves to push Nessie away. Something about her drew them in, pushed them away. It was playing with their minds, confusing them, and Issac was starting to shake.

"I gotta go." He huffed suddenly, pulling away from the table and running to the back of Emily's house.

Sarah had been so afraid at first, but it had been three weeks. Three weeks of singing her mothers songs to keep the fur inside. She was exhausted, and sore. She glanced at the adults, saw them watching her back, and decided she should go with Issac.

James, then Marie, then the Twinpup Two followed suit. The final wolf, Edmund, a brown speckled pup with insanely huge paws eventually slunk after them.

Paws were put to earth as a game of tag was made, pups stumbling over logs, wiping out in the dirt. It was fun, it was liberating, it felt like _freedom_ to Sarah and James, especially, as they'd been stuck in a cage for the last three weeks.

Wolf-Jared stayed phased at the edge of the woods, half asleep as the pups jumbled thought filled his brain with a soothing rabble. He kept alert enough to make sure they were safe, but they never left the border of the rez.

Jacob smiled as squeaky howls filled the sky. For the moment, he had his pack together. He'd deal with the rest of it when the need arose; if it did.

Secretly, he knew it would.


	4. Chapter 4

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Four**

"Hey Cullen." Seth said, the name easily rolling off his tongue as his hand flopped down onto Edmund's head. He felt the pup tense under his hand, shoulders rising up. He was beginning to shake.

"_Culler_. My name is _Culler_, Edmund _Culler_." The pup spun on his Beta, eyes full of anger. "I'm not a Cullen! I'm not one of _them_." He spat, not noticing Jacob's flinch. "You guys keep calling me _Edward_. It's Ed**mund**." The pup viciously fought back tears, but the shaking wouldn't stop.

"Go." Jacob said simply, watching as the boy darted for the woods. It was an after school meeting that had...gone...well, not as he had planned, that was for certain. He rolled his eyes at Seth, wondering how someone so good natured could fuck up so frequently when it came to kids, of all things.

"Shouldn't one of us go watch him?" Seth asked quietly.

"No. He won't stray too far. Leave him be for a bit, he needs to work it out."

Ed was wolf as soon as he was out of sight, uncaring as his clothes shred around him, as his bones painfully cracked. He popped his jaw a few times, always finding it weird how it felt to be in someone elses body. He glanced down at his copper colored paws before slinking further into the trees, nose pressed to the ground.

He had been planning on going to the forest anyway.

A second voice filled his head - David's, he noted.

_What's wrong? Where are you?_ They must have heard him shifting. He knew he wasn't all that far from their clearing. _Nevermind, I can see. Don't worry about Clearwater Two. You know how he is. _

Clearwater One and Clearwater Two is what the twins had taken to calling Leah and Seth, after Seth had absently named them the Twinpup Two. Originally, it had been Twinpup - their obvious dislike of being considered the same being had made him add the two. Edmund could remember asking Joseph _why_ one and two.

Joseph had replied, blandly, that 'Leah pisses us off' and 'Seth is a little shit'. Get it? One and Two? The Clearwater's were under the impression that the younger wolves were hesitant about talking to the older one's, felt that it was easier to address Pack by nicknames.

_I know._ Edmund replied miserably, paws dragging, ears drooping.

_Seriously man. He's a shit. Don't worry about him, he doesn't know nothin'._

_I know._

_Get here safe. Do you want me to stay with you?_ Joseph and David had taken it upon themselves to watch over Edmund and Issac. It wasn't that the other pups needed it, it was more...they didn't have any other friends, the younger two. Edmund was ten, Issac was nine. James spent all his time with Sarah.

_I'll be fine. Thanks, though. I'll see you in a few minutes._

David phased out, dressed behind the tree he had been crouched against. "He'll be here in a minute." He called out to the rest of the Puppy Pack, as they had taken to calling themselves. Really, it's all they were. He strode back into their clearing, flashing Marie and Sarah a dazzling smile.

Blankly, they stared at him before returning to their positions at James' sides, sprawled in the grass. David didn't know what it was about the black wolf, but the girls were _always_ with him. Sarah at his right, Marie at his left.

"Cool." His brother gave him a thumbs up, still half reading his math book. "S'he okay?" The twins had the awful habit of slurring their words together, a habit that annoyed their father and teachers to no end.

"S'fine."

"What happened?" Issac asked quietly, the shy wolf peering at David from under his bangs.

"Number Two called him Cullen."

Marie winced, stayed silent. Sarah hesitated before she spoke, "Does Nessie make anyone else feel weird?" She was sitting up again, eyes sliding over her packmates' faces. "I mean...like...she..."

"Smells weird, looks weird, makes you want to rip your hair out?" Joseph asked dryly, raising both his eyebrows at the six year old.

She nodded.

"Whelp." David started, flopping lazily beside his twin. "Th'way I lookit it, if it looks like a dead pigeon, smells like a dead pigeon, and tastes like a dead pigeon, the hell're you doing eatin' dead pigeons?"

"What he means is, steer clear. Somethin' isn't right there." Joseph translated, kicking his twin absently.

The bushes rustled as Edmund finally arrived at the clearing, ears pressed flat, head drooped low in misery. He slunk towards their circle, lowering himself behind the twins so they could lean against his side. In the few short months since he'd been Pack, he'd begun to notice how heavily they relied on physical contact with one another.

"Tore your clothes?" Maried asked.

A sad whine answered that question as a _yes_ and she hummed, reaching forward to James' bag. "James brought extra, he was saying earlier." She explained, tossing a pair of black track pants at the copper wolf.

"Leave him be. He can hear us just fine, and he doesn't talk much anyway." Joseph gave the girl a look, ignored the eye roll he recieved.

While the Puppy Pack meeting was silent after that, it wasn't awkward. They settled into the earth, into each other, with a familiarity that was usually reserved for life long friends. The smell of the rain, the gentle croon of birds in the distance lulled them into a relaxed state, one they hadn't felt in a long time. It felt good to be around Pack, they were realizing. Pack that was their own age, anyway.

"We should run away." James broke the silence, voice low and dreamy. He was watching thick clouds float by, trying hard to catch a simple ray of sunshine.

"And do what?" Maried asked sarcastically. "Get jobs? Buy a house?"

"Don't be mean." Sarah snipped from James' right side. His right hand woman, Seth liked to call her.

"I'm not, I'm being - what's the word?"

"Realistic?" Issac mumbled.

"We could start our own Pack." James added as if he hadn't heard the bickering around him.

"Oh? And who'd be Alpha? You?" Joseph was on James before the younger pup could blink. He grinned, snapping his teeth in James' face. "Think you're a tough guy huh? Well, I'm older. So's Davey. Plus, we're stronger."

"Yeah, but you've forgotten one thing."

"Wassat?"

"I'm smarter." James grinned as Sarah hit Joseph from behind, sending them both off of James and into the mud. "And she's faster!" He cackled, rolling as he stripped his shirt off. He wasn't about to take his shorts off in front of _girls_, so he let his inner self tear them. They were old and ratty anyway.

He slobbered a lick across Sarah's face, grinned as she squealed and shoved at his black muzzle. He could heard Edmund saying _ew, gross dude!_

Growling, Joseph disapeared behind the same tree his brother had used. A fire truck red wolf appeared from the other side, whole body trembling with the force of its wagging tail. It leapt, bouding easily over Marie and Issac, onto James' back.

The pups hit the ground hard, rolled together. James got ahold of Joseph's tail, grrrr'ed as he should his head ferociously, trying to rip it off. Joseph yelped, twisted in circles, bit himself in his own butt.

Sarah's deep, rumbling growl forced them to pause. They glanced at the six year old, saw her staring off at the trees. Watched her nostrils flare slowly, as she took a deep breath. The scent hit them both at once.

Sweet. Sickeningly sweet. Burning their noses like they'd had a bottle of bleach poured over their faces. It caused the unphased wolves to shake, the phased ones to growl. Bones began to snap as the shift took over, rolling across their small group painfully.

There were no adults on patrol; not in the middle of the day, when the sun was actually ripping through the clouds, on and off. James moved first, his own thoughts of Alpha's and Pack and his and _protect_ filling their minds, pushing them forward as well.

They ran as a unit. In their minds, they were an army of coordinated beasts, running to the rescue of a scared damsel. To an outsider, they looked like a flock of headless chickens; tripping over themselves, cracking branches, making noise. Bumping each other as their minds fought to keep up.

They were a school of sharks that knew no body language as they fell upon the vampire. There was...many of them, but she was smarter, she was faster, she had more experience and, as her hand sank wrist-deep into David's chest, he howled.

It was a howl full of panic, of pain, a howl all the young wolves had been taught as soon as they'd phased.

Chaos; it exploded over all their senses, followed by rage, then fear. It made their boiling blood turn to ice, as the puppies realized their fatal mistakes. Leah was fasted, was covering the most ground. Jacob was hot on her heels, his fear for his Pack pushing him harder than anything had pushed him in a long, long while.

Sarah's paw brushed the human, dead on the ground - bled out, from a wound in her chest. Not her throat. Sarah had always thought vampire drank from the throat. She swallowed, tried not to vomit even as Joseph - who had just been slammed across the throat - spewed his own blood across his twin.

A new voice burned across their minds, but the images never came with it. _Hold on, hold on_, it hissed. Not as panicked as the wolves, not as upset. They could feel the stranger coming closer, ignored it, because _somehow_ - they'd never, not any of them, remember how - Paul had arrived, Sam at his side. The grey wolf hit first, tearing the vampire away by her arm, dragging her across the grass.

She shrieked, clawing at his face even as Sam grabbed at her arm, pulling it clean from her body.

The stranger wasn't approaching anymore. They could feel it pushing further away, backing up from the Pack. Within seconds, it was forgotten about as Jacob became a human, grabbed one of the red wolves and hauled him close. David.

The pup was wheezing, hind legs kicking weakly. His body was doing its best to heal, working overtime, but it wasn't enough.

"Call Cullen."

Edmund snarled.

"Leah, _go get Edward_. We need Doc Cullen."

The shewolf was gone as soon as Jacob said go, flying over the earth and through the trees at some moments, ignoring the sharp bite of wood as she barreled through the thick trunks. She only had to get within hearing distance, she only had to be close enough for Edward to _hear_ her.

Two white blurs streaked past her, one faster than the other. She nearly landed ass over tea kettle as she tried to turn, to follow them back. Her legs gave out, she ate dirt, pushed herself harder.

"We need to get him to shift back, Jacob. I need you to get him to be human again, we have to get him to the hospital right away." Carlisle was holding David's head, one arm clenching the wolf's jaw shut, so it couldn't bite him. Delirious with pain, the pup was lashing out at all who came close.

The Alpha order was quiet, sturdy. The pup shuddered, shimmered, shifted. Became a little boy curled in Carlisle's arms. "Edward is faster, and I need to run interference at the hospital. We'll need to inform his parents. Jacob, go. Tell your father. I fear this might not go well." The doctor was already standing, the pup craddled in his sons arms.

Fourty minutes later, Wilbur Black was quietly on his way to the hospital. _Your son is in ICU._

They never bothered to tell him which one.

ZZZ

"Jacob where the _fuck_ is he?" He didn't know _what_ Jacob was to him - Billy was his second cousin, what the hell did that make Jake - but he didn't care. Family looked out for family. Billy had never looked out for him, looked out for his sons. As far as he was concerned, Jacob was not family. He grabbed the young man by the throat, ignored their size difference, slammed him into the wall. Jacob went willingly, allowed the anger. "Where the fuck is he?"

"ICU. Doc Cullen's working on him - they won't let anybody in right now." He choked out, faking the scratchy voice. The humans hand was heavy, yet not painful. The painful part were the tears in the mans eyes. He wasn't close to Wilbur, but he knew a strong man when he saw one, had seen him come home half dead from tiredness, trying to provide for the twins. He swallowed, thickly, fought back his own pain. They were his Pack, but they were this mans sons.

"Who - which." He stumbled over his words, eyes searching.

"David, it's David. Doc Cullen says he should - he should be okay. It'll be okay."

David. David had always been the tougher one, at least in body. Joseph was a loud mouth, but he was a gentle boy deep down. David, of course it had been David. "Where's Joseph?"

"He's with Leah, they're in the waiting room. I wanted to meet you out here. Come on." He continued to let his voice rasp, until the hand slid from his throat. Silently, he led Wilbur to the waiting room.

The man instantly attached to his other son, pulled the boys head close to his chest. Joseph was crying, but trying not to. Jacob's heart twisted painfully in his chest. Wilbur's eyes rolled over the others. Landed on Paul, took in the deep wounds across his arms that hadn't had the chance to close yet.

"What happened?"

"Bear attack." Paul said, without hesitation. He met Wilbur's eyes easily.

"That seems to be your excuse all the time." He rumbled, remembering Emily, the girl with the torn up face. Another boy - Uley, his mind supplied - shifted uncomfortably. "Something else you want to tell me?"

Carlisle really did have perfect timing. "Mister Black?"

"Hrm?" Wilbur turned slowly, felt unease rise at the sight of the doctor. A nagging feeling clawed at the back of his mind. He ignored it.

"Your son's still in ICU. We want to keep him away from others until we're sure he...won't get an infection." Until they were sure he could heal enough they could pass it off as _not as bad as we first thought_.

"I can't see him." Wilbur deadpanned. Not a question, a statement.

"I'm sorry, no. Not right now. We think he has an underlying condition, a cold. His immune system is weak right now." Carlisle lied through his teeth.

Wilbur's hands trembled, stroked down Joseph's face in an attempt for _calm_. He froze. "Joseph?" He pulled his son away, touched his forehead, his cheeks. "You're burning up, kid."

Jacob tensed.

Oh. Well, shit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Five**

They had taken both his sons away from him. Not permanently, he knew, but it still hurt. When he had noticed Joseph's fever, the doctor had taken him. "We'll keep him with David. They may have something, it could be contagious if they both have it."

They had asked for his health records, he had given them willingly. Anything to help his sons; anything at all.

The house seemed big and empty without their banter. He hadn't realized his annoyance at their ridiculous arguments, their fights, had been a comfort to come home to. Without them, the house lacked the signs of life. He moved through the shack helplessly, a man drowning as he took in the lamp Joey had broken, the carpet Davey stained.

He slept less, ate less, and he worked more. His days became an endless cycle of _hospital bills to pay_ of sleepless nights, of tears. An endless cycle of _no news_.

If - no, when, he corrected himself - _when_ his children got out, when they grew up, he'd have to downsize. His house wasn't large by any means, but a man on his own had no use for three bedrooms.

He held an old photograph of his wife, pondered calling her, and then decided against it. She couldn't help him. No one could help him - except his sons.

No, that wasn't true either. His dark eyes slid to the window, stared at a little blue cottage complete with a ramp across the street. His cousin could help. Billy could help. _Answers_ would help.

Steeling himself, Wilbur Black headed for the door, set out to do what no one else had had the balls to do, since all of it started. He was going to see Billy, he was going to see the council, and he was going to ask question.

And let the rest of the world pray for their souls if the council refused to answer them. He wasn't about to fall silent. Never again would he fall silent.

ZZZ

"Rosalie, you're a genius." Carlisle murmured softly as he stared at his daughter. She was tinkering with something - something small. The twins were sitting on a share bed, watching the vampire intently.

"I know." She replied flippantly, arching a graceful eyebrow at him. "This is good enough?"

"It's better than good enough. It's perfect." Carefully, he picked up the small tool. It looked exactly like the average thermometre. "Let's try it out. Joseph?"

The dark eyed boy huffed, annoyed, then popped his mouth open. The little stick settled under his tongue. Obediently, he closed his mouth. It was only a few seconds before Doc Cullen took it out again. "101. Fantastic. A fever, of course, but not neccessarily a live threatening one."

They had used Sue's blood for the twins' tests. It was more difficult to just completely _fake_ something than it was to use a different subject. She had been more than willing.

_Anything to keep us a dirty little secret_. David mused, scratching at his armpit. He flashed a grin at his twin, picking at his bandages. The wounds were long since healed, but they had appearances to keep up.

"So we can go soon?" He hadn't been home in two weeks. Long enough, they thought, to fight a life threatening fever and make David look weaker than he was.

"Of course. We'll only need you here one more night while we work some things out with Jacob. After that, we'll call your father and you can go home." Carlisle refrained from touching the young wolves, no matter how much he wanted to soothe their frayed nerves. They trusted him with their lives - had no choice but to, he knew - yet they didn't trust him with their bodies, not when they were healthy. Having Rose in the room didn't help either. They were handling it well, the effects of an Alpha order to not phase firmly stuck in their brains. Still. Their discomfort was as plain to the vampires as their smell was.

"One more night?" Joseph's voice was sharp. He was trying to keep his anger in check, pleased when it worked. He slowed down with reciting his times tables. Who knew something so boring would be so helpful, in real life?

"Just one more, I promise." Carlisle did touch the wolf that time, settled his hand on Joseph's knee. The child jerked, tensed, then settled. _Accepting it_ Carlisle mused _accepting it for what it is._ A vampire who had to be a friend. "I just need to get these out to the Pack and speak with Jacob for a while. One more night." He nodded at the children, grabbed his daughter by the elbow. Steered her out of the room, box of fake thermometres in his arms.

He had had other doctors sign the reports. With his status, his reputation, they didn't ask questions. Signatures were handed to him without question. A list of endless doctors for Wilbur to speculate about. To wonder which part of his sons had been examined.

Paper, paper, paper. So many reports, many big words. It would be too hard to read through, everything except the clean bill of health would be ignored.

It wasn't right, but it was for the best. Or at least that's what Carlisle told himself. He sincerely hoped it was true. "Jacob?"

"Yeah. What's up." The Alpha ran a hand through his hair, tired eyes turning towards the good Doc Cullen.

"We've finished." He set the box beside the Alpha's hip before baking away a few feet. "And...I need to talk to you." When Jacob finally looked up, he smiled. "Good. We can't keep having this, Jacob. The older wolves, they disapear all the time. Their bodies heal faster. With the children, it'll be more difficult. We can't...if the parents become concerned. I can't be everywhere at once, and neither can you. Jacob, there can _not_ be hospital records. Now, I have some of the monitoring machines left over from Bella's pregnancy." He ignored the wince of pain. "It wouldn't take me long to collect more equipment. Of course, you'd have to get everyone used to the idea but...it's a better alternative than a paper trail, Jacob."

"You...wait, what?" The Alpha's tired mind was unable to catch up.

"I want to start running an illegal Pack hospital from my house." Carlisle replied calmly. Off to the side, Rosalie snorted in amusement. "As I said, it would make everyone's lives...quieter, if not easier. We can explain away a missing child quicker than missing wounds."

He didn't bother pondering it. "How long?"

"A few weeks, a month at the most. Emmett and Rosalie are bored, I can send them out to...other hospitals." Other places where they themselves had hid.

"Do it." Jacob stood, tried to rub the wrinkles from his jeans. "I gotta get back. I need to tell Sue and the others about this, get the Pack to hand these out." He jiggled the box, already planning on sending Sam and Paul to do the dirty deed.

Breaking into Packmates' houses to replace childrens thermometre's. What the hell had they become?

ZZZ

"Someone's coming up the drive." Collin rumbled into his cereal. He sat shoulder to shoulder with Brady, the two young wolves scarfing down ice cream tubs full of cereal. Billy had been watching them, amused.

"Who?"

"Don't know." It was a familiar smell, but not one they recognized easily. "I'll get it." Brady offered, voice a murmur. He rose, having to duck in order to exit the kitchen. The pup was nearly as tall as Jacob, Billy noted.

"Can I help you?" Brady leaned casually against the frame, half lidded eyes staring slightly downwards at Wilbur Black.

"Yeah, you can, son." Wilbur smiled. "Y'can get the fuck out of my way." Aah, and that was where the twins' slur came from. Not a genetic trait, just a learned one.

"Yeah? Well unless you have some sort of business here..." Brady smiled back, slowly. Dangerously. "You can just turn the fuck around."

"Oh, I've got business. Family business."

The pup snarled, jerking forward before Collin's hand closed over his elbow.

"Hey, man, relax. Billy says it's cool." Collin eyed Wilbur hesitantly, tugging his Packmate closer. "C'mon. Let's go for a walk."

Wilbur stepped to the side, allowed the kids to pass. Guilt fought with his anger, lost. He pushed the door open and stepped into a house he'd never been in before, despite the family ties. "Billy?" He called. The other man answered and he moved; slunk through the startlingly dark house to the kitchen. He ignored the makeshift bowls. "What's goin' on Billy?"

"What do you mean?" Billy leaned back into his chair, met his second cousins eyes.

"You know what I mean." Wilbur was advancing, boxing Billy in. He was tall, he was strong, he was _threatening_. He twisted around kitchen chairs, moved even closer. Billy had no where to go. "You know exactly what I mean." His voice was deceptively soft, calm.

Billy shuddered in his wheelchair. "Don't go doing anything you'll regret now, Wil."

A chuckle. "Regret? My whole life's full of regrets, Cuz." He crouched, brought himself to Billy's eye level. Smiled. It was nasty, showed bright teeth in a harsh flash. "I won't regret doing what I have to do tonight. My sons are my pride and joy." A pause. "You wouldn't understand that, though. Pity too. You got a good son there, friend. Nice solid boy. You were a better father, he might not've gotten mixed up in that Uley boys gang. Ruined his life."

"Sam didn't ruin his life. Sam helped him find his purpose." Billy snapped back.

Wil tossed his head back, laughed long and hard. "Purpose? Billy, you think an eighteen year old boy knows what the _fuck_ purpose is? I don't know what purpose is. You sure as hell don't." He patted his cousins cheek, roughly. "That boy's a kid. Ever take the time to look at him? Really look? I did, the other day in the hospital. That's a sad boy there Billy. I've never had to see that look in my boys eyes. But you do? That's purpose?"

_You'll see it soon enough_ Billy argued silently. He voiced none of his thoughts though, finding it safer to keep quiet. Jacob would be home soon. _Please, let Jacob be home soon_. If he were to shout out, call for help, any Pack could show up. He'd be safe. Still, it would be humiliating. It wouldn't be as bad if it were...only Jacob.

"Billy I need to know what's going on. I'm not stupid. My kids come home late, I hear them sneak out. I try to talk to them, and they give me bullshit excuses. Same excuses been runnin' through this place a few years. You're on the council now. What the hell is going on Billy? _What the hell is going on?_" His voice rose gradually as Billy ignored him.

He refrained from hitting his cousin. He didn't like to be violet, didn't like to let his anger get the best of him. Plus, punching a council member in the face wouldn't get him anywhere.

He pushed away, instead. Turned and began tearing the kitchen apart. A chair went through the front window, spraying glass _everywhere_.

"Wilbur Black, what in the hell are you doing?" It was Sue, screaming at him as she tried to grab his arm. "Wil -"

"Shut up. Just shut the _fuck_ up, Sue!" He roared, spun on her even as Billy grasped helplessly at his slacks. "You think you're better than him?" A swinging hand knocked Billy's hat from the man's head. "You think you're better? You think you're a good mom? Look at your daughter! Miserable little girl, isn't she? That's all your fault. _Inviting me to the wedding_? Your husband was a friend, but damn me if I'll go to a wedding between that Uley and that - that scarred little hussy! How do you think that makes little Leah feel, Sue?" He was wild, ranting and raving as he continued to trash the other Black household. "What is going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Wil - "

"Like _fuck_ nothing is going on!" He snarled, and they watched his body tremble. His image shook, faltered, stopped. "Like _fuck_. Families are falling apart!" Tears were rising to his eyes, yet it didn't register to him that he was crying. "They took my sons Sue. My sons who've been out romping with your lot. You think I don't know? I have to work to support my boys, Sue. I have to work. I can't be there to stop them - not all the time. I can't watch them all the time." He was breaking down then, the anger leaving his body in a wild rush. He went limp against the fridge, slid bonelessly to the floor. "I can't Sue." He sobbed, swiping an arm across his face almost violently.

"Sue, maybe you should go." Billy mused, wheeling forward cautiously. He met the womans eyes, saw the hard determination. Gave up on the thought of her leaving. "All right." He conceded, settling once more.

"Wil. You need to be calm. You have to be strong for your boys." She thought of her hospital visit, how Carlisle had told her they'd be out soon. "They'll be home soon, I'm sure of it. I can feel it. They'll be home, and they'll be safe."

"They're not safe." He choked out. "They're not safe, because of you." Bleary eyes swiveled back to Billy. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." He hadn't, not really. Their ancestors had.

Wil's anger began to rise. Too much anger, too little time.

_Cup of coffee_.

He jerked.

_Coffee_.

Unsure, he stumbled to his feet. Ripped open a cupboard, found an old bag of coffee grounds. "Billy - " He sounded like he felt. Confused, lost.

It was Sue who moved to help, every bit as confused as Wil. She made the coffee mechanically, finding the motions of doing _something_ to be soothing on her nerves. She poured him a cup - _black_, he had said, a coy smirk fluttering onto his face, one she could remember from being a child, _like my name_ - and slid it across the counter.

The kick of caffeine, the heat of the drink, they calmed him. Sue and Billy could see the change take effect almost immediately. Strong muscles uncoiled, melted against the counter. Wil was surveying the damage he had done when Jacob finally, _finally_ returned home.

"What the hell happened here?" The boy gaped, taking in his broken window, cracked counter.

"Don't worry about that right now, Jake." Billy kept his voice steady, eyes never leaving Wilbur. The other man hardly reacted to the new person in the room, stared down at his cup intently. "Wil, we can't tell you anything because we don't know anything _you_ don't know." Another truth. Wil knew the legends just as well as any of them, had listened to them as a boy growing up.

He looked away from his coffee. "Nothing I don't know?" He parroted.

"Nothing you don't know."

Wil wetted his lips with his tongue, set his cup onto the broken counter. His mind was working overdrive. "Thanks, Billy." He was missing something. This was all just a giant puzzle, if only he could find the last _piece_.

"Hey, I stopped at the hospital on my way here with Paul, he had to get his cuts checked out." Lies, lies, lies. "Doc Cullen couldn't get ahold of you." Another lie, "And he asked me to tell you you can pick the boys up tomorrow. Clean bill of health, man."

"Yeah." Wilbur nodded, rubbed his hands together. "We'll see." He wasn't a particularly intelligent man, liked to consider himself average, but..."We'll see." Without a second glance around the room, Wilbur Black left the house.

In not giving him the answers he wanted, Billy had given him the answers he _needed_. Or at the very least, where he had to start looking.


	6. Chapter 6

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Six**

Sue answered her front door without hesitation, expecting the heavy handed knock to belong to Pack. Instead, she was face to chest with a black shirt. She tilted her head back, slowly. Met Wilbur's eyes. They were darkened by shame. "Oh. Would you..."

"No. I'm on my way to the hospital. I had to come and apologize for yesterday. I didn't mean to...lose my temper." He ran a shaking hand over his hair, yet didn't look away. Wilbur Black was nothing if not respectful. "I really am sorry Sue."

"It's all right." She laid her own much smaller hand on his arm. "I guess I can understand. I mean, they're your children. Of course you'd be upset." It was always best to agree, in order to soothe, even if she didn't really believe it. She had been upset herself at first, of course, but it was for the better. If she could put other parents minds to rest without saying too much at all, when then that was best too.

"Tell Billy to send me the bills for what all needs to be fixed. I can't go over there again, not yet." His eyes flashed with shame again and, with a nod of farewell, he turned. He stopped at the bottom step, glanced over his shoulder, "And you're not a bad mother Sue. I didn't mean that, really."

She smiled. "I know."

With another nod, he climbed into his junky truck and drove away.

She had to hand it to him. The man knew how to make someone feel like shit, whether he was saying sorry or screaming in their face.

He truly was angry at Sue, he thought as he drove away. Still. It wasn't his place to call her a bad mother, not after what she'd gone through. While he'd always put his sons first, Sue was a family lady. Maybe that Emily girl, her niece, was just as important as Leah to her. He didn't have any younger relatives - save for Jake, who he couldn't form a solid opinion of anyway, hadn't really helped raise - and he didn't know how it worked.

He wondered if he'd be in on the secret too, if he'd gone fishing with the guys every once in a while. _Probably not_ he mused as he glanced out the window and into the woods. He'd never be able to be on the council, be in that circle. Too many secrets.

Harry Clearwater had changed before he'd died, and Wil thought that it hadn't been for the better. Wil had known Harry when they were younger, could remember buying Seth and Leah gifts for their birthdays. He'd never had that with Billy.

Then again, Billy's then girlfriend - the lady who had become his wife - hated him from the moment she met him at that _one_ Christmas get together...Okay so he had been drunk. Whatever. He chuckled to himself at that memory, caught the noise, stopped it.

He didn't want to remember Billy fondly. It would make crushing him just that much harder.

He drove the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. The sight of David's bandages, one's the boy bragged he could change himself, made the silence stronger. He swallowed thickly against a fresh batch of tears, told himself it was ridiculous for a grown man to cry so damned much. He pulled his sons to him, one at each side, freed a hand for a moment to grab the files from the doctor. "Can you - can you mail the bills to me?" Damn if he didn't have enough to pay for, what with Billy's kitchen and all.

"It wasn't as extensive as we thought. Your insurance covered it." Jasper was _very_ good at faking legal documents, that was for sure. He smiled. "Take your boys home, Mister Black."

"I will. Thank you." Only he didn't have plans on going home. Not right then. Home was where he was distracted by his thoughts. Plus, his boys probably hadn't had a good meal since entering the hospital. As he walked down the front steps with his sons, he smiled, really smiled, for the first time in two weeks. "How about we head out and get you two some real food?"

"Sounds good dad." David pressed closer to his fathers side for the briefest of moments. He had missed his dad. More than he had thought he would. _Better tell James running away is a bad idea._

"Sounds effin' awesome!" Joseph got a light cuff on the back of the head for the near curse and he cackled about it. He effin' _loved_ his dad.

"Shotgun!"

"Dude! No way! I claim shotgun!"

"No I said it first!"

"_Dad!_"

Feeling the irritation rise inside of him, he laughed. "David claimed it first. You can ride shotgun on the way back, Joseph."

Huffing, Joseph scrambled up into the backseat.

ZZZ

"Damn you two eat likes horses." Wilbur grumbled as he watched David eat his _third_ plate of over greasy, sunny side up eggs. His on paused, one egg trembling on his fork, before he shoved the whole thing into his mouth, chewing loudly.

"S'good dad." He complimented as if the man had cooked the meal himself.

"Hey, eating boys are healthy boys, right?"

Brow furrowed at the new voice, Wilbur twisted to recieve a face full of breasts. _Hmm. Perky._ His mind detoured before snapping back to earth. He leaned further away to examine the rest of her.

Her clothes were old, worn. Well taken care of. She wasn't materialistic, he could tell that much. She just knew how to take care of what was hers. The shirt had to have been black at some point, but sun and frequent washings had faded it to a purple grey. Her pants were too big, hung at her hips. She wore hiking boots, scuffed at the toes. His eyes caught a scar along her arm, followed it up to where her shirt cut it off, and higher still to where one started at her chin.

It was her hair that shocked him the most. A deep purple with a sharp streak of orange, near the front. It was _short_, spiked up with some sort of gel. She didn't look like a punk ass kid, at least not in age.

"Yup." He heard himself saying, even as his eyes strayed back to her breasts. "Healthy boys." His voice held a touch of sarcasm, the recent hospital stay plaguing on his mind.

"Mind if I sit?" She asked it after she'd begun dragging a chair over to their table, and Wilbur shook his head, bewildered.

"Help yourself." He muttered.

"Don't mind if I do." She reached across Joseph, snatched a home fry from Wil's plate. Not knowing why, he let her. "You live on the rez, right?" She asked around her mouthful, hand briefly rising to cover her lips.

"Yup." He said again, picking at his home fries himself. Mm, this place made the best home fries. "Why?"

Startled, his kids stared. They'd never seen their father talk to _any_ woman, least of all someone who looked like _this_ one. What had he always said? If they thought of dying their hair or piercing their faces, he'd knock their heads together or throw them through a wall? It had been said without heat, but the threat of anger had danced in his eyes. Thank the universe that he hadn't caught their tribal tattoo's yet.

"I'm new in town." She flashed a grin. _Pff, like he can't tell._ "Figured I'd go to the place with the most culture, to stay." The place where the damned voices were the loudest. "You're the only person I've seen in town who looks like they'd know that area." Not a racist statement, a fact. "Maybe you could show me around?" She could feel it in his kids, the twins. She could feel the wolf. It would benefit to be close to him.

"We don't have a hotel." He replied instinctively, digging into his sausages.

"We have the travel lodge. You know, that little vacation place?" Dave offered, eyeing the woman curiously. There was something _about_ her.

_Coffee_.

"Hey, can we get two coffee's over here?" Wil flagged a waitress, gratefully took a deep chug of the drink. He didn't know what the hell it was with him and coffee as of late.

The lady took hers the same way - black. She drank with more restraint, however, idly chewing on a second mouthful of Wil's home fries. "Max."

"What?"

"My name's Max. Names usually help make people more trustworthy right?" She asked, rather than stated.

Wil tilted his head. "Wil."

"Don't lie dad -"

"Videogames."

"Shutting up."

He leaned across the table, towards this _Max_. "There a reason I wouldn't be able to trust you?"

She leaned towards him, grinned. "Only one way to find out."

ZZZ

Needless to say, Joseph didn't get to ride shotgun. Instead, he sat grumbling beside his brother in the back seat, glaring at the splash of purple hair he could see from the passengers side. _Max_ had been given the front seat.

_She's a girl, and she's an adult_ his father has explained to them when he ordered them to the back. Right. Because being a woman had _something_ to do with _everything_. Man, he didn't get adults. Still, dad looked like he was having fun talking to Max, and that was really all he could ask for.

Maybe she'd prove to be the very distraction they needed.

"So what brings you to town?" Wil asked around his cigarette. His window was open, left arm hanging out of it. His arm raised, pulled the cig from his lips. He blew the smoke out his window as best he could. He really hated smoking in the truck with his kids, but he was feeling uneasy and the nicotine helped.

"I told you, culture." At his flat look, she smirked, continued. "No, really. I travel a lot. I like looking at places full of culture. Learn something new all the time."

"Something new." He murmured, mind shifting back to the night prior. Something he already knew. Not something new. "So you're interested in culture?" He asked again. Mind running a mile a minute.

"How many times do I have to say it? Want me to spell it out?"

"No." A fresh pair of eyes never hurt. He'd tell her everything he knew, and maybe then _he'd_ know. He turned to her, uncaring of the long stretch of highway before him. The street was always empty, no fear of hitting anything or anybody else, save for a deer. "I want you to come to a fire tonight. Us and my boys, maybe a few other young ones." Something he _knew_.

He was going to start at the beginning, the very beginning. From the very first thing he could remember being told.

He was going to start, that night, around a fire. Around family, around friends - a new friend, granted, but one he thought was very pretty. He was going to start with the Raven, the trickster, the one who brought his people the sun, the moon, the stars, and who taught them the ways of the seas.

He was going to start at the beginning, and he was going to work his way through with Max, Joseph and David hanging onto his every word.

That night when the fire died, his children slept in their beds while Max slept in his. Wilbur sat on his couch and he stayed away, listening to the early morning air and to the gentle breathing of his children. That night they didn't leave, and he didn't work.

When they all awoke, he was gone. His sons went to school and Max went to the coffee pot. By the time lunch rolled around, she was gone as quick as she had come into their lives the day before. However, that night when the fire started in their yard, when Wil sat down to tell the legends of the wolves, she was back.

He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but he felt as if he'd known her for forever. That night, the Thompson family joined them, Anne and Greg at their heels. They had been concerned for his children, as they were concerned for his own. James was sleeping at Issac's.

His sons shared a look at that, but that night he shared words. For once, people listened to him.

ZZZ

"Give this to Jake for me." Joseph shoved a note into Edmund's hand, watching the younger wolf sniff at it. That kid had a weird sniffing issue.

"What is it?"

"Just somethin'. Dad's being a real hardass about us going out. It's important though, get it to him as soon as you can, okay? If you can't see him, pass it along to one of the older guys to give to him. It's important." He stressed again.

"Hey brat."

"Fuck."

"Language." Max smirked wickedly down at Joseph, giving his ear a harsh tug. Her mind brushed at Edmund, pulled away. She could feel the wolf on him too. "Your dad asked me to pick you up since I was out this way anyway." She had spent her day wandering the woods, looking for _something_.

"Great. We just gotta wait for David."

She rocked back and forth on her heels, picked out a fourth, fifth, sixth, _seventh_ wolf. Children. They all crowded close to Edmund, with the exception of David who moved to his brothers side instead. She eyed the young ones, pondered over it.

"Well. Come on then." She must have interupted something important. Still, Wil was letting her stay at his place free of rent - that man was way too trusting - although she had bought groceries earlier that morning. Staying close to the two little wolves was giving her better insight, but...

She was starting to feel trapped. The constant pounding rush of them in her head. Their thoughts were wild, unable to be contained. Much like the young pups themselves. Still, there were others, too many to count. Accusations, fears, worries. She couldn't do much, not when she didn't know them. She was a quiet whisper in the backs of their minds, trying to soothe, to be the conscience some of them couldn't reach when stuck in their own emotions.

"Max?"

"Sorry. Come on, let's go." She crossed her arms over her chests, defensive, as she began to walk away. They fell into step behind her, two silent shadows, and she realized with a start that they were _submitting_ to her.

For the briefest moment she glanced up, caught a flash of red through the trees.

Almost inaudibly behind her, David muttered _Jake_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Seven**

"Thinking of pulling a Bella?"

Leah's voice startled Jake from his thoughts. The Alpha turned the slighest bit to his shewolf, just enough to see her over his shoulder. She hadn't left the comfort of the trees, letting the shadows wash over her naked body and hide her from his eyes. A pang of something went through him and he huffed out a soft laugh. "How'd you know where I was?"

"Please. We can all feel your brooding from a mile away. Word on the street is Marie burst into a spontaneous crying fit because of it." She shifted forward, hesitated, fell further back into the trees. He could tell she wanted to say something to him, dimly realized she _was_ hiding from him - or rather, his reaction. He had the feeling he was going to get angry.

"Sorry." He said simply, brushed a hand over his hair. He looked back over the ocean, took comfort in the steady rise and fall of the waves, the glow of the sunset. If there was one thing he could rely on, it was the pulse of the ocean. The sun - not so much. Sunshine was rare in his neck of the woods. He smirked at his own silent joke.

"So what's wrong?"

"What's not wrong?" He shot back.

"It would be easier if you weren't lying." He could hear her moving yet didn't look back again. Behind him, Leah sat, fully hidden with the thick foliage she had been standing behind. "Lies make things complicated. How angry were you when Quil phased and joined Sam's gang? If you had known..."

"It was better that I didn't."

"But Quil wasn't your _son_ he was your best friend, and look how angry _you_ got. We can only spin lies for so long, run people in circles for so long, Jacob. Eventually we're going to trip over our own web of lies and we're going to crash. We're going to crash and burn, and it's not only you or I that'll be effected. We're old enough to take care of ourselves. Those kids aren't. They need _us_ to be responsible -"

"And I _am_ being responsible!" The anger hit him in a wave and he took comfort in that. It was a familiar feeling. He twisted fully, glared at where Leah was hidden. She wasn't one to hide. It put him on edge. "Do you know what would happen if this got out?"

"No one would believe us. They'd think we were a bunch of kids on drugs. The kids' classmates aren't like ours, Jake. Those kids aren't finishing high school and going to take off in a year. They're just starting out. They have _years_ to finish classes. They have years of sitting with the same people - they're going to notice something is wrong. Their parents are going to notice more than they are now! They're not rebellious teens, Jake!" She stood again, storming out of the bushes to jab her Alpha in the chest with a finger.

"Leah this is my decision. Not yours." He grabbed her hands, pinned them at her sides. Met her eyes and forced the calm to settle over her.

It smothered her, like a heated blanket in the hottest day of summer. It felt like she was trying to breathe under water. It wasn't the usual calm that Jacob pushed. It was...It felt stifling. She could feel her muscles unwinding, her arms becoming limp at her sides. Still. Her mind ran, refused to follow Jacob's command. "You're making the wrong one." She whispered, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth.

Brow furrowed, Jacob let her go. "Go home Leah."

Leah's feet obediently took her back to the house she'd grown up in, the house her mother still owned. Her heart told her softly that it didn't really know where home was. Leah was inclined to agree when she stepped from the woods and saw a cop car outside of her house.

Leah wondered, really wondered, if home was with people where you shared your blood. Her eyes slid over the small form of Sarah, who was screaming at her mother, and she realized no. No, home was where your heart was.

In the distance she could hear James, begging his father for something. Leah knew where her heart was, and it wasn't in La Push. Not any longer. In fact, it hadn't been for a long time. At least, not since Sam.

ZZZ

Max lowered her book, head tilting to the side. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Wilbur grunted from the kitchen, staring helplessly at a garden salad. His family was a bunch of meat eaters, but Max had bought lettuce so...He scratched his head and poked at a massacred tomato lightly. "This? It's a salad. Sorry it's not pretty." He muttered at the end, not knowing she could hear.

"Not that." She dropped her book onto the worn living room table before joining him. "Although whoa. Here, give me." She grabbed the knife from him, slowly showed him how to properly cut a tomato. "Seriously, who the hell taught you how to cut a vegetable?"

"Oh shut up." The man heaved a sigh and moved outside to the grill. "Whoa. What the hell is that?"

"That's what I was _saying_." Max rolled her eyes, poked her head out the door. "I was asking what all the lights were about. Is that normal?"

"I don't know." Wilbur crossed his arms over his chest. "What it's about, I mean. It's not normal. Stuff is usually handled by the Council." By _Billy_, he didn't add. "I'm going to head over."

"Dad don't you think you've done enough 'helping'?" Joseph called from the living room.

"Why, what'd you hear?"

"Not much, just saw the bill from the Black's."

Wilbur swore under his breath. "That's got nothing to do with this, kid. Something might have happened to Sue or Leah. I'll be back." He told Max. "You mind watching those two for a few minutes? I won't be long." He was already halfway down the steps when she told him it wouldn't be a problem.

"So you two gonna come outside and be my ears? I can't hear as far."

The twins slunk outside, David absently heading to the grill in order to flip the meat.

"Davey?" Joseph mused from the steps.

"Yeah Joey?"

"That's not Charlie."

Concerned, David left the grill; their steaks burned.

ZZZ

"Sam do you ever think that she's - I don't know. Right?" Paul wasn't one for words, but he'd been friends with Sam and Jared even before he had phased. They might not have been close, but they had been together. It had made phasing easier, slipping into the mind of someone who he always imagined he _could_ have been close with.

None of the original trio were patroling. It was the first day in months that they had time to just be guys. They were spending it with a walk through the woods.

"About what?" Sam rumbled, smirking softly as Jared got distracted by the sound of a deer.

"You know what I'm talking about." And for once, it wasn't Emily.

"I don't know Paul." Sam shrugged easily, settled onto a fallen log. "Why are you asking me?"

"Well besides the fact that we've been friends and brothers for years, you used to be an Alpha. Plus, you had the biggest issues with this to begin with."

"Phasing alone, losing...well, the whole imprinting thing." Jared added. "Figured you could give us some insight."

"Us?" Sam realized he'd been conned into a Q&A session. "I don't know what you guys want me to tell you."

"The truth." Paul tossed himself onto the muddy ground, content with lazing about in the dirt. "We don't get to talk all that often, and we've all gotten better at keeping our thoughts to ourselves. Leah's really upset Sam. And, even if you're not saying anything, I know you are too. So what gives?"

"I don't agree with Leah all the time, you know." Sam mused, settled further into his rock. He contemplated his next words carefully. "I think a lot is bugging Leah right now. She's looking at these kids and thinking _we stole their lives_, just like she looks at Emily and thinks _she stole my man_. Phasing took a lot away from her, and while she wasn't a child, she had a long life ahead of her. Phasing took a lot away from us. Still, though; we had the time to become people, to try and find ourselves. These children won't. They won't know anything other than the hunt, than being a wolf. They'll never be able to have a first crush. They won't experience life and...I think that's getting to Leah."

"That doesn't answer our questions. You're right, phasing did take a lot away from us. But I'm happy - happier than I ever was a human. I'm tired, and I'm sore, but I have Kim and -"

"And if you didn't imprint on her, you never would have glanced twice because she wasn't what you _wanted_. I know what Quil feels for Claire is perfectly harmless, but it still grosses _me_ out. Don't get me started on the Nessie thing." Paul jabbed a finger towards his old Alpha "And don't even start in on me not being an imprinted wolf. That has _nothing_ to do with it. I'm in your heads enough that I see what it's all about, and while everyone _does_ seem happy, it's still weird."

Sam nodded. "I know that, Paul. It _is_ weird. But it's what's real now. This is our reality. I agree with Leah that it's not right, I just know there's nothing we can do to change it. I fought _hard_ when I first phased and it got me no where. It just _hurt_. I never really had friends before, and I was forced to be even lonelier. I had you two, but we all had our own stuff going on. We didn't spend all that much...time together. I'm not glad that everyone else had to go through this too, but there's nothing we can do about it. Fighting it just makes it hard on everyone, especially the ones who care about us."

"But Sam," Paul softened his voice for the first time in years. "You don't understand. There are other people who care about us. We may be in those kids' heads, and they might look up at us like superheroes sometimes but James wants nothing more than to be like his dad, Marie wants to be as beautiful as her mom. Their families care about them, and we can't...fuck man." He swiped a hand down his face, turned his gaze to the sky. "Kids need their parents. It's common Psych, and you _know_ that we took SAP class together you dick."

"And you _still_ didn't answer our question."

"Is Leah right?" Sam sounded irritated. "Yes. Okay? Leah _is_ right. Claire's parents should know, the pups parents should know. Embry's mom should know. My aunt should know. But you know what happens _when_ they know? They get scared. They try to find answers, to find cures. I don't want my life to be shoved under a microscope and there's only so many strings Carlisle can pull -"

"You always think the worst about people. Do you really think the mother of a six year old girl wants to call in some fucking crazy ass doctor to lock her kid up in a lab for the rest of her life? Or really, the doctors life, because lets face it." Paul grinned, angry and wolfish. "We'd outlive them."

"Not to mention the fact that to get to _any_ of us they'd have to go through _all_ of us, plus the Cullen's." Jared added softly.

"Okay, fine. Theoretically, we tell the parents. They call in doctors. The doctors can't do anything because we won't _let_ them. What happens then?" Silence met Sam's words. "We're declared a _threat_ and we are _hunted_. Sure. They can't really kill us - nothing can. But our entire world, the world we're trying to save _everyone_ becomes a part of the regular world. With everything being exposed, vampires won't have to hide. Not to mention whatever other creatures are living among us."

"Real werewolves." Jared whispered, mind whirling. "You think there could be other things?"

"Why not?" Sam shot back. "We exist. The Cullen's exist. _Nessie_ exists. If we get broadcasted all over the news or within the government database, everyone else is going to start slinking around. Our jobs are hard enough without dodging missiles, making sure we don't hurt any humans, and killing the vampires. Or rather, without killing whatever wishes the human race _doom_."

"So you don't think Leah's right?"

"I do think she's right, I just see the merit in what Jacob's doing." The anger left Sam all at once, leaving him boneless against the rock. "Plus it's not my choice anymore."

"And if it were your choice?"

Sam smiled, soft and cold. "Well then the Cullen's wouldn't be here. They'd all be dead; for good."


	8. Chapter 8

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Eight**

"Esta honey?" Wil approached the woman slowly, could see the tenseness in her shoulders. Esta was an old friend, one he had gone to school with. As a young boy, and then a young man, Wil had thought he was in love with her. She wasn't a particularly pretty woman; her nose was a little narrow, a little long, she frequently got facial spasms. She was skinny, flighty. She reminded him of a bird, always had.

"Wil." She shifted away from him, eyes twitching left, right. She was nervous. He reached for her, hand stopping at the small of her back, not _quite_ touching, but he knew she knew it was there. It made her shoulders jump, pull in closer to her body.

To an outsider, it probably looked bad. Wil knew that to the residents of the La Push rez, it looked bad. Esta hadn't been close to anyone as a child, and her husband got a lot of hell for her skittish behaviour. Wil, however, knew that she'd always been like that.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm ah, not sure." Her shoulders shook, rose another inch, then fell. "I just wanted to..."

"Be here in case you were needed." Wil finished, casting a lazy glance at the officers outside Sue's house. "I know."

"Carter, he should. He should be here any second now." She added.

"That's fine Esta." Wil wasn't afraid of Carter, and if things had been different, he imagined that he and Carter would have been friends. The man had a relaxed nature about him, a quite nature, one that helped soothe Esta's nervous personality. They were good for each other in a way Wil never would have been.

Plus, it had really only been one very, very awkward date. They hadn't quite been the same since. His lips quirked into a small smirk as he finally rested his hand on her, just to see the little jump of her body. Teasing her always _had_ been one of his favourite pastimes.

The sound of gravel crunching made him lift his head. He met Carter's eyes calmly, but the man didn't even seem to notice Wil touching his wife. That, or he just really didn't care as much as Esta thought her would. There was a child at his side, and Wil backtracked in his mind, tried to remember the boys name. _Edmund_, yeah that was it. Edmund Culler.

"Any idea what's happening?" Carter settled on Esta's other side, hand rising to her back as well. He blinked when his hand brushed Wil's, met the mans eyes. Rather than give him a dirty look, Carter laughed quietly.

Carter wasn't a very large man. He was tall, but he was thin like his wife. He didn't even have particularly broad shoulders. Still, there wasn't a time when a smile couldn't be found on Carter's face. He was the type of person one could find them relaxing around, regardless of how much you might have wanted to hate him. His eyes were a lighter color, similar to honey and, as Wil looked down, he realized that their son had the same eyes.

"No. Max saw the lights and I decided to come on out. It's Sue's house." Of course, Carter would know that as well.

"Max?" The other man asked curiously, pulling his wife closer when she stepped towards him.

"Right." No one really knew Max. "She's living with me right now. Sort of. She travels." It was all the explaining that Wil would do.

"Mmm." Carter hummed.

"We, well. We saw the sirens too. Or rather, Edmund heard them." Esta was hugging herself around the middle.

"Heard them, huh?" Wil glanced at the boy, eyebrow hitching.

The child at the most arrogant smirk Wil had ever seen. He knew grown men that didn't carry themselves with so much arrogance. "Yes, I have a rather good sense of hearing." He drawled, sounding every part the high class business man that drank his water from crystal glasses.

"Oh yeah?" A snotty child was still a child, and so Wil reached over to tug the kids ear, just to see the look of horror on his face. It was almost as much fun as seeing Esta twitch. As it were, the woman had squeaked at the ear tugging.

Her husband laughter, reached around her, ruffled his sons hair. The child huffed and sputtered indignantly, both hands flying up to try and flatten the cropped locks once more. Yeah, Wil knew if the circumstances had been different he and Carter would have gotten along.

"Wil, something isn't right." Esta muttered. As skittish as she was, people watching had always been one of her favourite things to do. She was watching Sue with the eyes of a hawk, narrowed into little slits. "Something's wrong."

If Esta said something was wrong, something was wrong. As he looked over to the cruiser, he sighed through his nose. He really hadn't wanted to get _involved_; he had only wanted to see what the hell was going on. He wasn't keen on Sue, but...well, never let it be said that Wil wasn't a loyal man. He exchanged a glance with Esta, shoved his hands into his pockets. "Wish me luck."

Without thinking, the woman said back – as quiet as a mouse -, "Good luck."

ZZZ

Sue was shaking. She knew she was shaking, and she tried to control it, but nothing was working. Counting to ten, taking deep breaths. Even holding her breath in an effort to starve her muscles of oxygen didn't work. Her teeth chattered and she pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Officer Daniels asked softly. Sue didn't know what it was about women in power, but they rubbed her the wrong way. Officer Daniels was blond, blue eyed, tall. She wasn't very broad, but she looked sturdy. It made Sue's insides crawl with discomfort.

"I'm fine, yes. Is there something I can help you with?" She wanted to ask about Charlie – Charlie who had always made her feel more relaxed, had always settled her frayed nerves, especially when it involved the law – but she knew better.

"We don't know yet." The other officer, Officer Shvets was shorter, with darker hair. She was prettier than Daniels though, and more dangerous looking with her hand settled loosely on the gun at her hip. "That's what we're here to talk to you about." She had a steady voice and calm eyes. For some reason, that bothered Sue more than the almost delicate aura Daniels let off.

"We'd like to go inside, if that's all right with you." Daniels glanced curiously at the crowd that had begun to gather. Men, women, a handful of children. Daniels had never been on a rez before, and she had no idea if it was normal.

"We – uhm." Sue stopped to clear her throat.

"Sue?"

"Wil." She didn't know why the sound of his voice relieved her so quickly. She knew the man disliked her – very much so, in fact, and he had for a while – but she also knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her. To her, or anyone else he deemed in 'his' community, for that matter. It was a fairly territorial thing, but it was nice knowing that there was someone in the area that could be relied on. When they weren't...having hissy fits and breaking the councils houses, that is.

"Is there a problem here?" He asked the officers, settling to stand behind Sue. He towered over her, a force to be reckoned with. It was like watching a Chihuahua being backed by a Rottweiler. He kept his pose relaxed, hands still in his pockets, shoulders slumped. It was an almost boyish look, uncaring.

"Nothing that concerns you, sir." Shvets didn't seem bothered by him, met his gaze calmly. "If it does end up concerning you, we'll be sure to give you a call. You can leave your name and number with my partner, if you like."

"If we have any questions for you, we'll call you right away. If you'd just step to the side here, I can take down all of your information." Daniels jumped back into the conversation, notebook and pen ready. When Wil approached her, she handed him a card. "And if you have any questions, this is my personal line. Just give us a call."

"If this is rez business you should be asking the council." He told her casually as he leaned against the cruiser, reciting his cell number to her. He didn't have a house phone – he was out working too often for it to be useful, and his boy never talked on the phone.

"Sorry, sir, but I can't disclose anything that has to do with this case at the moment. Like I said, if I need you to answer any questions, I'll call you." Daniels scribbled his name and number down in her sloppy hand writing.

"So you can't tell me anything?"

"No sir."

His chest heaved with a sigh and he scratched the back of his neck. "All right. Thanks Officer. If I have any questions, I can call you?"

"Yes sir. Like I said though, I can't disclose any information about this case at the moment."

He nodded. "I understand. You have yourself a nice day, ma'am."

Daniels was surprised at how quickly his entire demeanour had changed. One minute a towering, grumbling man, and the next as content as a kitten full of milk. "You too." She gave him an odd look as she trotted back to the Clearwater house where Shvets had probably settled into a cup of coffee and her questions.

Wil returned to the Culler family, dropping into a squat so he was more or less level with Edmund. "You said you had good ears, right?"

Glancing at the house, Edmunds cocky smirk turned into a sly smile. "You bet."

Wil returned the look with a wolfish grin. "Good."

Esta covered her face and Carter, being the person he was, let out a laugh.

Without a second of hesitation the child slunk closer to Sue's house, settling himself on the rear of the woman's car.

ZZZ

Leah didn't go home. She was hardly wearing any clothes, she was covered in mud, her eyes were dead and there were sticks in her hair. There was no way in hell she was going home when there were cops in her house. Plus, she figured that Sue could handle herself for an hour or two. Leah hunted vampires for a living, the least her mother could do was have a civil conversation with two uniformed officers. Instead of going home Leah backed once more into the woods, phased wolf.

She let her paws lead her. She didn't really care where she ended up, so long as it wasn't her house. Jacob had told her to go home – she had gone home...even if it were only momentarily. She could feel the Alpha's exasperation in the back of her mind and she grinned, pushed her paws harder.

"So Sam, how did Seth even become Beta?" Ooh, that was Paul talking. Leah slowed, not really sure how far she'd ran. She was far enough away that they probably hadn't even noticed her. That was a good thing.

She pressed her belly to the dirt and crawled forward a few feet. Alone in the woods, the boys never bothered to be quiet. The humans rarely – if ever – wandered that far. A human so deep in the bush would be a lost human, and lost humans were loud. Leah knew that to be a fact. In her time as a wolf, she'd found three.

No, the boys didn't know she was there, and Leah was pretty damn good at being sneaky when she wanted to. Really, she wasn't trying to eavesdrop. She was trying to launch a surprise pounce attack. Or at least, that had been the original plan. Sam's next words changed that though. They froze her to the spot.

"Jake decided that."

She couldn't see her brothers, she could only hear them. She wished she could see the look on Sam's face. She'd have to ask Paul or Jared to show her next time either of them patrolled with her.

"What do you mean Jake decided that?" That was Jared speaking, sounding rather confused. Jared was always confused.

"Jacob, by blood lines, is the Alpha. He outranks me, just like how I used to outrank everyone before he phased. Technically, I should be Beta. Me or Paul, actually." She could imagine him shifting his weight forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped loosely as he met Paul's eyes. She wished she could see, but she knew they'd stop talking if she approached. They never wanted to include her.

"So why is Seth Beta?"

"He shouldn't be." Sam sighed. He would be leaning back at that point, she knew. He would look at the sky like he always did when he was seeking answers, as if the clouds would write the wording out for him. "When Jacob took over I was originally in the position of Beta. Now I'm ranked third. Paul, you don't patrol as often anymore, so your wolf hasn't been _growing_. Jacob..." Sam hesitated.

Leah wondered what was so bad that Sam didn't want to continue.

"Jacob...it was a long time ago." Another sigh. "He Alpha ordered Seth into his Beta position. If the order wasn't in place, if you patrolled more Paul, you and I would be bumping each other for Beta all the time. Seth's not a dominant wolf but Jacob doesn't...He trusts us because he has to. Not because he wants to." He added softly, soft enough that Leah had to strain her ears forward to hear.

"So you're saying that Jacob put an order for you to be submissive to a submissive wolf because he doesn't _like_ us?" Jared asked indignantly.

"Not because he doesn't like us. Because he doesn't _want_ to trust us." Paul corrected. Jacob could see their every thought, they all knew that, and Jacob was very acutely aware of what the original Pack thought of him.

"He was afraid I might bump him again. He's supposed to lead because of his blood, not the power."

Silence. Silence for a long moment, and then, "You were going to take the Pack back." That was Paul. "And then..." And then the Cullen's, Nessie, the pups.

"Yeah Paul. I was going to take the Pack back. And now I can't." And not because Jake had power. "I can't take it back now, because Jake and Seth will fight me all the way. Now? I'd lose."

Sam...was. He was still supposed to be their Alpha? Uncaring of the noise she'd make, Leah stood and fled. A glance through the trees, when she was close enough, told her that the police were still at her house. She couldn't go home. She didn't want to get cornered by anyone, by her brothers, by nosy human cops, by her mother.

Leah went to the library instead, where she hid amongst the books and clogged her senses with the smell of old paper, of leather bindings, and the quiet rustle of pages as the real world quietly went about its business, leaving her in the dust.

ZZZ

Max ate the steak even though it was burnt. The pups did too. They ate on the back deck, watching Wil talk with the Culler family as Edmund listened in.

"We can tell you what he says later." Joseph offered as he handed Max the botched salad. "If you want, that is."

"No need." She tapped her temple, ignoring the confused look that the pups gave her. She saw David twitch, his head spinning towards the house.

Max lowered her fork, listened carefully to their thoughts and the noises around her. There was someone _in_ the house. She turned in her chair, disliking the fact that she was sitting directly in front of the door. A shadowed figure was standing, watching. It stepped out into the light.

"I think that you and I have to have a talk, Max." He was amused as he took the empty seat at the small table, Wilbur's seat. He didn't touch the food, though. "A very long, very descriptive talk at that." He helped himself to the orange juice thought, pouring a glass. "Away from here. You can leave a note. He won't be mad."

"He will." She argued, body tense. She hated being told what to do. "You're not my Alpha Jacob."

"No, I'm not. But I have the right to know how you know that." He softened his voice, his expression.

_Wow,_ she thought. He really _was_ just a kid, when you got past his height and width. She knew it wasn't a good idea, but...well he really _should_ know. Everything. Everything she could do, everything she could hear. "Joseph, tell your dad I had to run out for an emergency. I should be back tonight."

"Yeah. Okay."

Max left her dinner, she left the kids, and they went out the side door rather than the front. They took to the woods, to the shadows, and then they hopped a fence to get into Jacob's house. He didn't want them seen together anymore than she did. She slipped through the door, followed him to the kitchen, and nearly rolled her eyes when she saw his father and an old man at the table.

"The rest of the Council is...tied up at the moment. We'll inform her of this meeting when she gets a moment." Old Quil wheezed. His hands were folded on the table, and all Max could think about was spiders. He had long, worn fingers, gnarled from age. They were creepy crawly hands, the kind you couldn't trust. She blocked him from her mind, not wanting to delve into _that_ just yet.

"Have a seat Max." Billy wasn't smiling as he gestured to an empty chair. "And let's have a talk."

Not knowing why, Max sat.

Z-Z-Z

**AN: Thank you to all of the wonderful people who have been reading and reviewing this story. It really means a lot to me that so many folks have been taking this well. I know it's a bit weird, and not as dark as I originally warned, but we're just getting started. I've not been writing Author's Notes in this story, but it's about time that I did.**

**Growing Pains is going to get a bit darker, a bit more confusing, and a lot more twisted before it's finished. However, Growing Pains is just the first book in a small series. Originally it was intended to be written as a stand alone, but time and thought have revealed that I won't be able to fit everything into here without making it horrible. Growing Pains itself will continue on for a few chapters, and then book two will begin – I won't reveal where exactly I plan on ending GP, but it won't be too long now. **

**In this AN I'd also like to give a big thanks to my very dear friend, StealthLiberal. She's been with me for most of my stories, and she is a huge inspiration. She helps keep my thoughts reigned in when I need it, and she keeps me on track. SL, this fic wouldn't still be happening if it weren't for you, and I thank you for that. You've been a great friend and editor. Many of these ideas come from her, and she was the one who gave me Max - who happens to be an early model of her character Ingrid from her own fanfic. I suggest reading that, because it's amazing.**

**So thank you Stealth, thank you readers/reviewers. I hope you all continue to enjoy Growing Pains and the stories that will follow. If you have any questions/comments, feel free to PM and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Nine**

"Thanks." Shvets took the cup of coffee gratefully, curling her cold hands around it. She could tell that Sue Clearwater was the mother hen type. The woman was fluttering frantically around the kitchen. When Daniels walked in, she was jumped with questions as well.

"Sure. Milk and sugar, please." They didn't normally accept things from the people they were questioning, but this was a special case. Normally, they'd also drive down to the station in Forks, with Sue sitting in the back of their cruiser. It had come to their attention that Forks had known. A quick sweep had shown no records, but six witnesses was enough to raise speculation. Especially when the stories about Bella Swan – the daughter of Chief Swan – and Jacob Black – the son of the tribal leader, Billy Black – had come to their attention. Not to mention the small tale about Sue and Chief Swan. It was all just one giant mess.

When fear had struck, Mrs Thompson had done research. The internet had become her friend, the phone her lover, as she scratched her way up the food chain until she finally got the state involved. Shvets and Daniels weren't Forks cops, they were Washington cops, state officers. The case had been shoved into their hands – they weren't all that high up in the food chain, but it was a good case – and they took it.

Daniels sat across from her partner, which forced Sue to sit between them. The woman was still shaking, and she kept glancing at the door. Shvets wondered just _who_ Sue was waiting for.

"Normally," She started, folding her hands around her cup as she leaned forward. Daniels had a more relaxed pose, leaning back into her chair, slightly slouched. Good cop bad cop. "Normally, we'd take you down to the station. But it's come to our attention that the station isn't doing its job." No, and that had resulted in the temporary suspension of one Chief Swan. "So we're going to talk here. And if we have to, we'll take you somewhere else. We need you to answer our questions as best you can. This can be quick and painless, or it can drag on for forever. Now, that's up to you. Do you understand?"

"Am I being arrested?"

"No. Right now no one's being arrested. We've already talked to a few other people." Grace and Enpay Thompson, their young daughter Sarah. Anne, Greg, their boy James. They had been given the number for the Neilson family, but they hadn't wanted to talk. That was fine then. If they were needed, they'd be contacted whether they wanted to be or not. "And we're just here to talk to you."

"All right." Sue knew she wouldn't be getting out of this until she answered the questions, but she also knew she had become a damned good liar ever since she was aware of the Pack. "Ask away."

"Well, Sue, it's about your son."

"My – oh for heavens sake. Is this honestly about him being caught naked? He told Charlie and the Thompson's that he had had a stupid prank pulled on him! It wasn't his fault! He doesn't have a cell phone, he couldn't call me or his sister to come and get him. He was only trying to get home!" She exploded, smacking her hands on the table. "When are you people going to let this drop?"

"The first time, we could have accepted it. But he's been spotted naked a few times – by other people, not just the Thompsons – all around town." Shvelts explained. "When he gets back home, we'll have to have a talk with him as well. We just want to know what's going on here. Word is you have a gang running around town and the Council isn't doing anything about it. You're on the council, Sue. When we're done here we'll be heading over to talk to the rest of them, don't worry about that."

"Now, you listen here. Those boys are all good boys, they help take care of everyone on the rez!"

"Taking care of someone can be done without being nude around children. There were a few others boys that were caught in similar situations, and if I were the other parents, I'd be worried to." Daniels interrupted, eyes flashing angrily. "You can't defend public nudity. We might be charging those boys with public indecency. That's a sex crime, Clearwater." Seth was underaged, it was the only reason they were talking to his mother. "He, and his friends, will all be put on a sexual offenders list. That won't look good for college applications, job applications. This is a serious offense, Clearwater. Now we need you to tell us what's going on, and if we can work this out, charges might not be pressed."

"There's nothing to figure out. They're teenage boys playing mean jokes on each other! What more do you want. Boys will be boys."

"Boys being boys usually play tricks on girls their own age, not six year olds." Shvets commented dryly, frantically writing down everything that was being said. "We aren't here to cause trouble, we're here to fix it. Maybe you should get your son a cell phone, if these sort of pranks happen often. Or get him to carry extra clothes with him. It doesn't matter if he's exposing himself during the day or night, he's still doing it, and something has to be done about that."

"He's not doing it on purpose." Sue was calmed down by then, mind whirling as she thought of what she would say to Billy, how she would inform the pack of the other wolves' families. Couldn't they just let sleeping wolves sleep? No. They had to poke around where they clearly weren't wanted.

"It doesn't matter. Something strange is going on here, and we need to get to the bottom of it." Shvets had the feeling that she'd be getting no where fast when it came to Sue.

"I need you to leave now. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you calling my son all sorts of dirty things. When you want to arrest him, you can come back. Until then, we're done talking to you." Her voice had become ice as she shoved from her seat and walked to the door. Of course. It had to be _her_ son.

Daniels didn't argue. She did, however, put her cup into the sink before she walked out, Shvets hot on her heels. "What the hell was all that about? For someone who says her son didn't do anything, she was pretty evasive."

"She's lying, obviously. She knows something and she's not telling." Shvets slid into the passengers seat. "We'll let her run off to talk to Black. We'll come back in a day or so. No one's going to say anything right now, and they already have a story. The more they talk, the more tangled it'll get. It's only going to make our job easier."

"Do you really think he did something?" Daniels did her seatbelt up after slamming the passenger door. "I mean, what if she's not lying?"

"She _is_ lying. Too many witnesses for it to be the truth, and as far as I can tell there's no bad blood between anyone besides the Seth incidents. People don't start accusing teens of running around nude when said teens are already supposedly on drugs." She explained. "They'd be pinning murder or something else on him, not some basic public indecency. And, she wouldn't get so angry over simple questions, like you said. If Seth hadn't been doing something, she'd be confused, not angry. They're covering something up."

"I guess. Plus...you know, the whole Swan thing."

"I'd heard he was a good cop." Shvets shook her head in disappointment as she pulled away from the Clearwater house, giving the kid on Sue's car a funny look. "I guess Clearwater changed his mind."

"You really think there's something going on between them? That's a little...odd. I mean, for a good cop to go bad just because of a lady."

"Maybe she's good in bed." Shvets gave Daniels a dirty grin, cackling when her friend and partner swatted her in the head.

"She looks like a cold turkey. I bet she kisses like a fish." Daniels made fish lips at Shvets, snickering to herself. As they drove further out of the rez, she sobered. "I really do hope we get to the bottom of this though. Just because only Sarah and James have been...exposed...doesn't mean there won't be other kids."

"I know. We'll figure it out. It might take a while, but we'll figure it out."

"We better do it quickly." Daniels murmured, watching the raindrops begin to fall. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt by this."

"Nor do I, my friend. Nor do I."

ZZZ

"Leah, Jake wants us at his house." Seth had sniffed his sister out, and had been surprised to find her at the library. She wasn't really an avid reader, never had been. "Emergency meeting. The pups won't be there though." Just the older wolves, that was all. No Collin or Brady.

"Tell Jake to lick my ass." Lick, not kiss, because Jacob Black was nothing but a dog.

Seth sighed. Sam had told him that this might happen. Apparently Leah had heard a not so nice conversation about a certain Alpha and Beta duo. "Leah, come on. You know it's not like that." Seth sat in front of his sister, tugging the book out of her hands. "It's not like that at all. Jake's not a bad guy. He's just trying to do the right thing."

"Sometimes the best intentions have the worst outcome. He's being selfish, is what he's being. If he's not strong enough to lead, he should give that title to Sam –"

"Sam, who doesn't want to lead the Pack, who wants to stop phasing, who wants to live a happy normal life? Sam who begged practically begged Jacob to become the leader?" Seth stroked his sisters hair out of her face. "Leah."

"I don't know why I'm so angry about this." She muttered, dropping her head to Seth's thigh.

"Because you're angry at him for a lot of other things." He cupped her face, made her look at him. "And I understand that, Leah. I do. I get that you're angry, I get why, and you know what? I'm angry too sometimes. Very angry. At him, at this, at you, at mom, at dad. I'm angry at everyone sometimes. But right now there's nothing we can do about this. We don't have to like it, we just have to live it." He smirked, a sad little look, and shook his head. "Jake's not a bad guy, he's just as confused as we are. He has a lot on his plate Leah, and it just keeps getting harder. Give the guy a break, would you? We need to get to the meeting, it's important." He slid off the desk, shelved her book for her. He was stalling, giving her time to compose her thoughts and hide her anger. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She slung an arm around him as they walked out together. "I don't want to do this Seth. I want to hate him. I want out."

"I know. But we can't get out, not yet. There's been more vampire activity going on, and the world needs us no matter how much we need to stop."

"And what makes them more important than us, Seth?"

"They're not." He kissed her cheek, squeezed her to his side. "They aren't more important than us, not at all. The only thing they are is more fragile. We have the power to protect them, Leah. We can save lives, we have saved lives. Shouldn't that be good enough?" He gave her a second squeeze before releasing her to bound up the steps of Jake's house.

Leah shook her head. "If that was good enough I would have wanted to be a cop." She muttered, thinking of her high school dreams. She had wanted to be artistic, to paint, to dance, to be happy. Not to police the World of the Supernatural, like she was doing now. She supposed fate didn't really ask what people wanted. Instead, fate threw life at people full throttle.

She really couldn't be mad at Jake, though. He was trying to do the right thing. She knew that. She had been in his head enough that she _knew_ that. He was just doing it all wrong. She supposed she couldn't really hold it against him – but again. She knew that she would.

She steeled herself to enter the lair as her hand curled around the knob of the just closed door.

"C'mon in Leah." It was Billy hollering at her, and she rolled her eyes as she kicked her shoes off and strode into the house. Billy, Jake, Old Quil and that weird Max chick were sitting at the table. She met Max's eyes, initiated a staring contest. They looked away at the same time – not because they wanted to, but because Old Quil had cleared his throat.

Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil and Seth were leaning against the counter, stove and fridge. Leah stayed near the door, prepared to leave if she got too angry. She usually _did_ get angry at those irritating meetings.

"Sue will be joining us once she composes herself." The old man wheezed, eyeing them all critically. "Billy just got off the phone with her. She needs to collect her thoughts. She's not an important member of the Council, however, and we will proceed without her."

Leah bristled at that. Not important? She only birthed _two_ of the wolves that fought to protect La Push. She only sacrificed nearly all of her friendships to keep their secrets. She only...She trailed off when Old Quil pinned her with a glare. She didn't know what the old mans problem was, but he had never been very keen on her. She huffed in annoyance.

"It's been brought to our attention that an outsider is in our midst." Old Quil shifted that gaze to Max, who refused to look away. "She can be found in the heads of our sons, but she isn't one of them." Leah ignored the jab at her not being a _boy_. "We want to know what and who you are, Max."

"Well, unfortunately, I don't answer to you." She rolled her eyes at Old Quil, ignoring the mutter of the wolves. They didn't like her being rude to him. "You're not _Pack_." She said in a sing song voice. Take _that_! She thought. It was for the jab at Leah.

"I am an es-"

"You're an old man who knows some stories." She scoffed. "You're not Pack, you're on the Council. End of story."

"Okay, then." Jacob cut in. "Let's just say, for now, he's not Pack. I _am_ Pack, though. So can you answer my questions?"

"Yes. I can answer your questions. No; I won't answer your demands. Ask me things, don't tell me what to do. I can leave any moment, and you won't know anything." Paul opened his mouth, so she pointed at him. "And don't even think you can call that Cullen on me. He won't be able to get into my head to get all my secrets."

Jacob didn't bother to expand on that train of thought. Instead, he tilted his head. "Okay. We'll start easy. Your name is Max. What are you?"

She turned her attention back to La Push's Alpha. "I'm a human. Although in history and folklore, my particular brand of human has been called a Vargamor." She saw Old Quil twitch, almost violently, and scratched it up to nerves. "I label myself as a hunter. Like I told Wil, I travel. A lot. I like to learn things, but I like to do my part. When I was born there was no active wolf pack in my area, shifter or lycan. I couldn't serve my purpose, so I became a hunter." She met Leah's eyes again. "Fire is your friend when it comes to vampires."

"Wait, wait. Shifters?" Sam stepped forward, walked around the table to take Leah's side. "You mean there are other shifters?"

"There's all sorts of things, Sam. Vargamor's are the wise women of wolf packs. Fully human. In the past they practiced witch craft. My blood lines are strong with inner magic, which is what makes me able to hear your thoughts. I never got into the craft, although some of my aunts have. Where I come from, it's not uncommon to have shifters or real lycans. My kind are born to help them."

"Wait, you mean _real_ werewolves? Like, moon children?" Jared asked.

Max fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I hate calling them that, but yeah. Moon children, or whatever. We have them and shifters like you, the kind that are born with the wolf or whatever inside." They didn't bother asking about the 'whatever' but she could hear their confusion about it. They were only aware of wolves, and even then...only in La Push. "The Vargamors of the old days actually brought lycans and shifters together for a while. They're different, but not so much. Eventually the pack mind and instincts created fighting. The lycans felt left out, because they couldn't hear it all. It caused problems. It ended up with the pack splitting, the lycans going one way; the shifters the other. Eventually, more of my kind began to be born. We were one Vargamor to a pack, usually, unless there was a surplus of us."

"Wait..." Jacob started, stopped, shook his head. "Nevermind. We'll do a question and answer session after."

"Thanks." She responded dryly, annoyed at being interrupted. "The Vargamors strengthened the lycans by being their pack mind – she can get into all of their thoughts, speak to them all. It connected them in a way they'd never been connected, but they never joined forces with the shifters. There were too many differences. For the shifters, we became a secret weapon. We're unthreatening. We're a bit faster, we're stronger than normal humans, but we're not suspicious. Most other creatures, vampires included, think that we're family because of the smell of Pack. And then, bam. They're dead."

Paul's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Silent, because he didn't want Old Quil to turn that dark glare on him. Young Quil punched him lightly in the shoulder, but he was grinning too.

"So you're here because there wasn't an active Pack?" Jacob asked.

"Basically. I originally travelled across Europe, but I decided to make my way down here. I was researching elsewhere and stumbled upon the old articles of all the deaths near here. It screamed vampire. I wanted to check it out and see if there was anything still around. When David got slammed through the stomach, the panic dragged me in. You were a Pack in need. I was on my way when Paul and Sam arrived, and then you called vampires to fix it. I stuck near the hospital for a while, and when Cullen fixed up David, I realized that there was something weird going on. I specifically went to the diner that day, to follow Joseph and David. Wil just kind of...got dragged into the mess." A new emotion fluttered into Max's eyes as she ran a hand through her short hair.

"So...you're here because you have to be?"

"More or less. I'm not like one of your wolves, though. I can leave if I want to, but I'll always been in your heads. I'll always be there if you need me. I just don't physically have to be here, although now that you know, there's no point in me leaving. You guys need all the help you can get." She shot a smirk at Jake.

"What do you mean?"

"I may not have been in a Pack before this, but being in one is my reason for living, according to legend." She crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. She caught Leah's thought about how Sam always did that too. "I was raised by my mother, whose mother was a Vargamor for the neighbouring lycan Pack. I grew up dealing with werewolves. They didn't want a second one, despite the strengths we have, and my grandmother didn't want me in that particular Pack. They're pretty volatile." She grinned. "She taught me everything though, and they helped me learn to fight. Your Pack is...dysfunctional at best, suicidal at worst."

Old Quil growled to himself. "You have no idea –"

"I have every idea." She snapped back, slamming her hands onto the table. "I know everything that goes on in their heads, I know the way a Pack should run. It shouldn't run like a car without an engine. It should run like an expensive watch, all the clogs and parts moving in synch. This Pack has no idea what it's doing. _You _have no idea what you're doing. Would you like to know? You're fucking it all up. That's what you're doing."

"Hey now." Quil glared at her over his grandfathers head. "Back off lady."

"So are you ranked, then?" Jacob diffused the situation with another question.

"No. Vargamors aren't ranked, although we can be more or less dominant that certain wolves. For example, without using any of my 'abilities', I could whammy Jared, or Quil. It's similar to your Alpha order, except it can't be broken. There is no way you could break an order I give them. However, _your_ orders, I can peel off their minds like a sticker on an apple."

Jacob leaned forward, eyes interested. "Oh? How come?"

"Sometimes Alpha's don't think properly. They make mistakes, or bad decisions. We're designed to help the Pack, to make the Pack stronger. If we think you're going to needlessly kill a wolf or something like that, we can strip your order for the better of the Pack. Most Vargamor's don't do things like that, but we have the ability too. Normally, we let the Alpha deal with his wolves, and if we have a problem, we talk to the Alpha. Again, it's not my Pack. I'm not a wolf. I'm just here to help make life a million times easier by guiding, teaching, helping, and structuring. I can fight, yeah, but it's not the only thing I'm bringing to the table. Now Jake, I have a question for you." She ignored the thoughts about Seth's order to be Beta, about how it was _Sam_'s place. She didn't know these wolves, not really, and she wasn't going to start slipping into their business so soon.

"Go ahead." She deserved to ask a question, definitely. He had already asked so much of her, forcing her to come to this meeting.

"Do you _want_ me? I mean, do you want a Vargamor in your midst? I've told you all I can. I don't have a choice in this, where...I can't leave your Pack. But if you want me to, I will go away. I won't ever come back. You'll never hear me again, but you'll always feel me. And _that_ is up to you. So I ask again; Do you want me?"

Jacob glanced around at the wolves he had. Old Quil was glaring at him, Billy was staring off in the distance. Sam and Paul were exchanging glances, Quil was worriedly watching his frail grandfather. Jared looked confused. Seth seemed bored, and for once, silent. Leah...she looked hopeful, in a way he had almost never seen. She was watching Max with curious eyes, brow furrowed lightly.

Jacob took a deep breath and prepared to give Max his answer.


	10. Chapter 10

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Ten**

"Where's Max?" Wil asked as he strode up the back steps, Esta, Carter and Edmund hot on his heels. "I thought I asked her to watch you guys?" A concerned look crossed his face as he swiped a hand over Joseph's hair.

"She had to run, it was an emergency. She said she shouldn't be back too late though." David explained, absently poking his burnt steak around his dinner plate. He listened to his dad huff in exasperation.

"All right, then." Wil didn't know why it bothered him so much, that Max hadn't come and told him where she was going. Damn, he didn't own the woman. They weren't even dating or having sex or anything. It was ridiculous for him to feel that way, he told himself. "The Culler's here are going to stay over for a bit. How about you boys bring Eddie here to your room and play for a while, okay? I need to have a grown up talk."

Edmund snarled softly at the nickname, but didn't give the man a dirty look. The twins outranked him – often, they bumped each other for the more dominant rank, the twins – and he would never show disrespect to a dominant wolf by threatening their family. He waved at them and crinkled his nose up when they came at him from either side.

"C'mon _Eddie_." David snickered.

"Yeah Eddie, let's go _play_." Joseph added.

They both got swatted in the back of the heads by their father, who was rolling his eyes at him in amusement. "Stop being cocky, go play. You know what I mean." He gave them the look he always did when he was goofing around. The fake angry look.

"Yeah, yeah old man, stop rushing." David absently waved at his father, yipping playfully when his dads foot caught him lightly in the butt.

"Go on now, get, you rat." Wil was laughing to himself as the three scampered off.

"You're very good with your sons." Carter commented quietly, a slow smile stretching across his face. "Very odd parenting style." He added, although not offensively.

"Hey, those boys had to grow up pretty damn fast when their mom took off." Wil stretched, groaning in the back of his throat as his spine popped. "I treat them with a little more freedom than most parents, but they're good kids."

"It must be – well, your relationship." Esta started. "What I mean is, Edmund and I are – we're strained. I feel like I'd be closer to a daughter. He's ah, always been…closer to Carter."

Wil nodded. "My boys and I get along." He didn't elaborate and she didn't ask him to. Instead, Esta went to a kitchen that she knew well, and began preparing tea. Her hands shook as they closed over a familiar pot, and she glanced at Wil over her shoulder.

"What? Too flowery for me?" He grinned, leaned against the door frame as Carter sat in a kitchen chair. "I couldn't bring myself to throw it away."

"I'm glad to see you didn't." Esta said softly. The tea pot had been Wilbur's mother. Esta could remember days that, as a young girl, she would slip over to the Black's house seeking womanly advice. Her own mother hadn't been around much when she was a child – she had kept herself as busy as possible, trying to provide for five little mouths after her father had left – and Mrs Black had gladly taken her in. There had been rainy days on the porch share over old china tea cups. Summer or winter, rain or snow, tea had been their drink of choice.

"Esta?"

She twitched, realized she'd been staring at the sink. "Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized to her husband, the man who had called her back to earth. The Black's had lived in that house for years, and when Wil's parents had passed away…they hadn't been rich, but they had owned the house. It was all they left him. She wondered if the children slept in his old room, or if he had stayed there. If the kids slept in Mr and Mrs Black's room instead.

She voiced none of her questions as she made the tea, handing one to her husband, and one to Wil. Wil's hand nearly covered the entire glass, but he sipped it anyway, with an appreciative sigh. "Just the way I like it."

"Yes, well." She shivered, flew back towards the counter, prepared her own tea. Took a seat beside her husband, watched as Wil continued to lean against the door frame. "Wont you sit?"

"It's my house, I can stand if I want." He flashed her another grin, the one that made him seem so much like his old self.

She huffed. "Yes, I know that, Wilbur." She used his full name just to see him wince and found that it felt _good_ to tease back, finally. "…I'm sorry." She added, guilt already clawing at her insides.

Wil merely laughed and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He had always been somewhat of a floor dweller, she mused. One leg stretched out in front of him, the other bent at the knee. He settled his elbow on it, the rest of his arm hanging loosely in front of his body. The dainty little tea cup was gripped by its handle, hanging on an angle. He was aware enough to make sure it didn't tip too far, at least.

"Have you seen any of this…public indecency?" Carter broke the awkward silence with an even more awkward question.

"No. But I know something fucked up is happening." He swore, ignoring how it made Esta twitch. She had always hated his potty mouth, but sometimes bad words just felt good. "I don't trust the Council, and I wouldn't put it past them to have the cops eating of their hands. Let's just hope they don't send any of those shirtless teens at those lady cops, or we'll be fucked for good."

"Well, what happened?" Carter sipped his tea, wishing he had coffee instead.

Wil told them everything; from the phone call he had gotten about his kid being in ICU, to how they had kept both. To the way the thermometer kept telling him they _didn't_ have a blood boiling fever when it _felt_ like they did.

Esta made a noise of concern in the back of her throat. "Yes, I thought Edmund was getting sick too, but our thermometer keeps saying he's fine. I called the hospital in Forks and they told me I shouldn't worry too much, that there was something going around that seemed particularly strong on the rez…And, well, they're doctors so I..."

"Believed them. Because it's easier to believe than to think that something's wrong with your kids." Wil ran a hand over his face, shoulders drooping. "I didn't ask any questions either. I just brought them to the diner, picked up Max, then came home and acted like nothing happened. He was…they told me it was a bear attack, and Davey said that he could wrap the wounds himself. I wanted to give him his independence but…I was cleaning the garbage out of the bathroom a few days after it happened and I couldn't see any blood on the bandages. He didn't have any salve on it either. It was bone dry. If he were attacked by a bear, and that attack got him hospitalized…"

"Why wasn't there any blood?" Esta whispered.

"He's run around topless since then, too, and there's no scar. I thought maybe the doc had given him vitamin E to put on it, but nope. Nothing. I checked his room, his back pack, had the principal at school check his locker. Zip. Zilch. Zero."

"Oh. Oh, no…what…"

"I don't know Esta honey. You probably heard about my run in with Billy." It was more of a statement than a question, but he paused long enough for the couple at his table to nod their heads. "He wasn't lying when he told me he couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I realized it the moment he said it. Whatever is happening here, we _know_ what it is. When I brought Max home and she said she was here to research, I thought it was the perfect opportunity."

"For what?" Carter asked, voice rather breathless.

"For research. See, I started looking things up. Grabbed a few of the old books, the ones about the legends. I told them about the Raven, the Thunderbird. None of it made sense – not in our situation, at least. But you know what did make sense?" He paused again, watched as the couple leaned forward, Esta's hands fluttering to her throat like nervous butterflies, abandoning her cup of tea. "The wolves, Esta. The legends about the wolves."

Carter had no idea what they were talking about. He was Quileute but he hadn't been raised on the rez – his parents had run the hell away as soon as they were old enough to do so. Still, he had come back to their home in his early twenties, had met Esta, had settled down. It was the best decision he had ever made, but he was still out of the loop on some of the politics, the stories.

Esta deflated, falling back into her chair. "T-the." She shuddered, face becoming pasty as she paled.

"The wolves. High body temperatures, fast metabolism, accelerated growth and healing."

"Wilbur Black, that isn't funny. It's ridiculous!" She managed to choke out, mind running a mile a minute. "They – that's. It's impossible, Wilbur."

"Is it? We grew up hearing these stories, and now all the things we heard about are happening. Kids are popping up naked, Charlie Swan is getting involved. You know his daughter used to mess around with Jacob Black, and now she's missing? No one's seen her in over a year, since she started dating Cullen. Wolves get jealous, Esta. Look at Sue's nieces face, that Emily girl! They all wear their hair short, come home covered in gunk."

"Oh God. Oh my God." She was trembling. "Wil – no. Wil, you know. That means your sons. My son." The hands at her throat grasped at it, squeezed it to try and calm her hyperventilation. "We have to…"

Wil was already on his feet, tea cup shoved carelessly onto a counter as he spun to find his sons. He went first to David's room – Wil's parents' old room – and then to Joseph's – the old guest room.

Empty. Empty, empty, empty.

Angrily, Wil put his fist through the wall. Esta began to cry.

ZZZ

Jacob was nodding to himself as his mind settled on a conclusion. He didn't know if Max was reading his thoughts at that moment, or if she'd blocked him out enough to give him privacy. Hell, he didn't even know if she was swaying his thoughts in any way shape or form. Still, he had found his answer, and he was hoping that it'd make life easier for everyone involved. He opened his mouth, all eyes on him and began to speak. "Ma-"

"_Jake!_" The door banged open, catching Sam in the side. It swung shut, flew open again, and three pups scrambled through the door. Edmund slammed it behind him, flicking all three locks as quick as he could. "Problem, Jake." It was Joseph talking, bouncing foot to foot as he whimpered and whined in the back of his throat.

The words died on Jacob's lips as he took in the panic his pups were displaying "What the fuck happened?" His father smacked him in the arm for his language.

"The officers earlier were there to talk to Sue about the naked incidents." Edmund gave Seth a pointed look, then spun back to his Alpha. "My parents went over to talk to Mr Black…er…the _other_ ah…"

"Our dad." David snapped impatiently.

"Right, their dad and we heard them talking because, well, they weren't being quiet even though my mother knows I can hear very well and –"

"They know."

"Wait, what?" Seth stared at the rambling children, dumbfounded.

"My dad was reading us all those old legends a while ago, we never thought he'd made the connection. He _knows_. And he told Edmund's mom and dad, and now _they_ know. Or at least they think they know. I heard them coming to the bedrooms so we went out the window and ran over here. Shit." Joseph banged his head against the wall, twice. "Shit, shit, shit." The boy swore.

"What are we going to _do_?" Edmund moaned.

"Lie."

The pups as well as the older wolves turned to stare at Max.

"You can't tell them the truth." She warned. "At least not when they're panicked like this. You shouldn't have even left the house. Go find a basketball, pretend you were playing a game, and go back home when you hear them screaming for you. When they start asking questions, lie. Laugh at them if you have to. Make it seem like a ridiculously hilarious statement. They don't know you heard them, they just think you snuck off to do wolfy things." She fell silent, let her mind rub against Wil's. "Man, your dad is _pissed_. Go, quickly. I'll leave a few minutes after so I can run damage control."

"Thanks Max. Hey, ah – " Joseph glanced at Jacob, eyebrows raised.

"Not now. Next time we have a Pack meeting we'll let you all know what happened. Do what Max says and go."

Paul had already disappeared into a closet and returned, old basketball in hand. Jake was grateful the thing didn't have his name on it. "Here." He tossed it at David, who caught it without thinking. "Good luck brats." Paul shook his head, eyes concerned even as his mouth twisted into a scowl.

"Yeah, thanks. We'll need it." Edmund went to open the door, flushed darkly when he remembered he had locked it. His shaking hands took a few seconds to open it once more. After that, the three pups slid out into the night, their names being shouted from a few blocks over.

"I told you. Completely uncoordinated." Max informed Jake, challenging him with her eyes.

He shook his head, smiled at her softly. "You're in Max. We need all the help we can get. The kids should be getting closer now, you should go run damage control with Wil. We'll regroup tomorrow night, same time, in the woods. Ask Joseph and David to show you where we usually have our Pack meetings. I'll get Collin and Brady to tell Isaac tomorrow morning, and he can inform the rest of the pups. We need to figure out what to do." He stood, walked her to the door. He couldn't believe how much older than them she was. She looked to be at least thirty. "You said you knew how a real Pack ran. I need to know how to make us work like a clock. I need to know what to do about all the secrets. You're _our_ Vargamor now and we're _you're_ Pack. Your opinion matters to me. Make sure you're there tomorrow."

As Wil began to shout at his sons for sneaking off, Jacob lost ninety percent of Max's attention. "Yeah, sure. Wouldn't miss it for the world." She was sliding down the steps, faster than she should have been walking.

Jake had the sneaking suspicion that the pups may have led Max to Wil Black's house, but that something else entirely was making her stay.


	11. Chapter 11

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Eleven**

She stood just inside the kitchen doorway, eyes focused on his slouched form. The house was dark, and he hadn't turned on any of the lights. She tightened her grip on her coffee cup, letting the warmth of it seep into her bones. It had been a long day for all of them, she knew. "Wil?" She called out, slowly stepping forward.

"What?" He muttered back, voice laced with misery. She could see him shifting further into the couch, head bent and burrowed into his hands.

"Aww, come on. You know they didn't mean to laugh at you that hard." Taking his silence as annoyance, she grinned and slunk over to the couch, settling beside him. "It was pretty ridiculous." She lied, practice making it easy to do so without getting upset. One had to lie all the time when they played with the supernatural; it was easier that way. "They didn't mean it." She repeated.

"They didn't have to laugh so long." He sighed, finally uncurling to lean backwards. One arm raised to fall heavily across the back of the couch. She could feel the warmth of his skin, let her head fall against his bicep so she could stare at the ceiling.

"No, but they did. They're kids though, right? Kids laugh at stupid shit." She patted his knee after setting her cup on the coffee table, scowling as he threw his feet onto it. She hated feet on table. It had always been one of her biggest pet peeves.

"I guess. They never laugh at you, though."

"Why would they laugh at me?"

Wil flashed her a grin, the first one for the past few hours, as his hand rose behind her to tug on her hair. His fingers twisted against the locks and, softly, she could feel a pull at her scalp. "Your crazy, crazy hair."

"It's not that crazy."

"Honey, it's electric blue." He pulled again before releasing it, choosing instead to run the hand upwards. It caused her already rumpled hair to stand on end, sticking out oddly. He chuckled. "Bright, electric blue."

"So, you've never said anything about it before." The word _honey_ stuck in her brain, made her insides quiver with...something. Christ, it had been a long time. "Does it bug you?" She sounded amused and they both knew she didn't give a shit if it bugged him or not. She liked it.

"No, not at all. It's..." He paused, searched for the right word. Grinned even wider when he found the one that would annoy her most. He leaned closer to her, cheeks touching so he could whisper. "It's _cute_."

She rolled, straddling him at the waist. She straightened her spine, making her look taller as she mock-glared down at him. "Cute? I am _not_ cute." She huffed, flicking him in the forehead.

He grabbed her wrist, forced it to her thigh. "You're right." He replied solemnly. "You're not cute. You're adorable."

"Is this adorable?" She asked teasingly, lowering her eyelids halfway. She leaned forward, brushed her mouth against his. "Hmm?"

"No." He murmured, breathless. It wasn't much of a kiss, and he knew it was teasing, but, "That's sexy." He released her wrist, leaned forward for a deeper kiss. Was surprised when she met him head on, didn't back down. He wasn't aware of the growl that bubbled from his throat, only noticing the moan that came from hers.

"Come to bed." She sighed into his ear after pulling away from his mouth.

"I'm in my bed." He told her, hand on her back, pulling her closer to him.

"No, your real bed." She ripped his pillow from his couch, threw it over her shoulder. She heard something break, imagined that she had knocked over the lamp. She tensed when his weight shifted, tensed further when her legs left the couch. He had one hand under her ass, the other on her lower back, carrying her. She wasn't used to being held, to being lifted, and it put her on edge.

She was relieved when only moments later her back found the familiar sheets that belonged on his queen sized mattress. She had spent enough times in that bed to know what it felt like, took comfort in how she sank into it. When her shirt was gone - no bra, and she had never been more grateful for pajamas - her arms reached for his neck, her brain reached for his mind.

His mouth found the scar on her arm, the one he had oggled the first day they met. He followed it from her elbow to where it had once disapeared under her shirt. Across her breast, up to her throat, then broke off to nip at the one on her chin. "God you're beautiful." He murmured there, before shifting to a different faded wound. That one began under her left breast, curled below it before dragging sharply across her ribs.

She trembled as his mouth continued its journey, finding all her of battle wounds and laving them with attention. Her mind tightened around his, amplified his thoughts. Her own screamed _ugly _in a blaring chant, soothed only by his own, simple, _perfect_. It caused her brain to stutter to a halt, silence, then focus on what he was thinking.

He was thinking of taking her pants off, of finding all of her other _stories_, as he was calling her scars. Stories. She laughed despite her self, the noise nearly watery to her own ears. He glanced up, mouthing at the part of her hip he could reach. His eyes were full of questions, his mind shouting them at her. He wanted to know if she was okay, if she needed him to stop. He would stop. He pulled away to voice his opinion, but she was already answering.

"Keep going." Breathless, needy. She wasn't used to that. He dropped his head down, tugged at the tie of her track pants with his teeth. His hands grabbed at the corners, slid them and her plain, non-sexy white panties off of her.

_Perfect. So...Max._

That was a weird thought. She glanced down at him again, let her eyes roll back when he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder. His lips found the spot in the bend of her leg where she'd once been pierced by a tree branch. A round scar, he sucked at it for a moment, before finally trailing upwards.

By the time he was where she _wanted_ him to be, her whole body was shaking, twitching. She ached deep down, in a primal way, a way she hadn't felt in a long time. She came against him _twice_ before he pulled himself up, sank his teeth into her shoulder as he sank into her. She didn't manage to bite off that moan, heard an annoyed growl a few doors down.

The guilt hit her as suddenly as her next orgasm did, his hand playing with her even as he thrust. Her heart seized with the knowledge that she was _lying_ to the man she was currently having sex with, the man who had started out as a convenience, and ended up as so, so much more. She reached further into his mind, found nothing but thoughts of her.

The scar on her foot that looked like a crescent moon, the way she twitched her nose when she was thinking too hard, the way her eyes darkened with thought when she gazed out the window. The way she cut vegetables, how her coffee tasted the best.

His thoughts consumed her, chased away the guilt for a moment, gave her a second longer to enjoy _him_ before the urge to rip out her hair came back.

They didn't last long, not together the way they were. He came inside of her with a shuddering groan, finally a bad thought entering his mind - and even then, it was for her, about her. How he should have worn a _condom_.

Her insides trembled again, for an entirely different reason, as he rolled to the side and pulled her close, cuddling her onto his chest. She felt him fall asleep beside her and, despite it all, Max found she couldn't fall asleep.

She stayed awake until the sun began to rise, eyes focused on the wall.

For the first time in a long time, Max was with people who made her happy. The only problem was, the happiness she was giving him wasn't the entire truth. Somehow, somehow she had to fix it. Before the guilt ate her alive, before she pushed him away. She really didn't want to let him get away.

It was then that Max became one of the many people who cursed the La Push wolf heritage, from the skies to the seas and beyond.

ZZZ

She hadn't slept, but she was always up before him anyway. She gave Joseph and David sheepish grins when they made their way to the kitchen and, when she heard him rousing, she turned the coffee pot on.

He didn't touch her when he entered the kitchen, choosing instead to give her a quiet, gentle smile. She returned it with an awkward one of her own, surprised when he tiredly poured his coffee into his cereal bowl.

He stared at it for a few minutes, glanced at the box of cereal. Shrugged, poured the cereal in anyway.

"Oh, dad, ew _gross_!" David wailed from the table, staring at his father in horror.

"Mmnm." Wil nodded, scooping a spoonful of the...whatever, into his mouth. "Doeshn't tashte bad." He swallowed, grimaced, then shrugged. "Okay, so it tastes pretty bad. Waste not want not, I always say."

"Dad you never say that." Joseph pointed out.

"Shut up and stop being such a smartass." He walked across the small kitchen, ruffled his sons hair playfully. "Smartass."

"You betcha."

Silently, Max stood at the counter, sipping her own coffee.

Wil shot her a questioning look, one that she ignored. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, nodded to himself. Walked away to find clean clothes. "I, uh, have to work the over night." He informed his small family plus one when he was finished. "After my shift this afternoon."

"I was going to ask about that, actually. Mind if I take the boys out for dinner?" Max asked. She whispered to the children, a flicker in their minds, _Pack meeting_. Watched them both nod.

"Yeah, no problem. Need me to leave you some money?" He reached into his pocket for his wallet, but she shook her head, waved a hand.

"I got it tonight, Wil." He really had done too much for her.

"Fine. Just do me a favor and keep an eye on them. You two are still grounded for that little sneaking off stunt you pulled last night." He jabbed a finger in their direction. "If I find out you boys've been off with Jacob, you're in big shit. Now hurry up, I'll give you a lift to school before I go to the store."

"Sweet."

"Thanks dad."

The boys scarfed the rest of their food down before scampering down the hall, shouting and shoving each other into the walls as they went.

"Are you all right?"

Max shifted against the counter, glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Allowed a smile to slide onto her face. "I'm fine Wil, just tired."

"Yeah, I hear that. I'll see you when I get back from the store, if you're still here. If not, I'll be home sometime tomorrow morning."

She thought of the Pack, nodded, turned to stare out the window. "I'll be here."

ZZZ

"Why the hell do you guys have Pack meetings so deep into the woods? It's not like any normal human's going to be wandering around, especially so late at night." Max hopped over a fallen log, annoyed as it tore her pants. They were her favorite, comfiest pair.

"Jake likes to do it in case we need to call the Cullen's. They're still not allowed on our territory, so the closer to the treaty line we are, the better for him. We're only about two minutes away now, though." Joseph explained, grabbing onto his brothers shaggy fur. David had insisted on walking there as a wolf. He said it was easier. Max imagined it was a helluva lot easier.

She really wasn't looking forward to her first Pack meeting. It was kind of scary, actually. She knew about all the practices, but she'd never had to use her knowledge. Now, especially, she was attached in a deeper way - Jake wanted help with their lies, and she was so completely...utterly involved with Wil. She pushed those thoughts from her mind, knowing that in order to be a good Vargamor, a good 'soldier', she couldn't allow her emotions to cloud her judgement.

Pack was more important.

She was surprised to see that _all_ the other wolves were already there. Sarah and Marie were leaning against a phased Leah's side.. James sat at the shepups feet while Isaac - the one wolf she really knew nothing about - was sitting between Paul and Sam, looking nervous as all hell. Edmund was sporting a pout, stiff between Quil and Jared. Embry, Quil, Seth and Jacob were in the middle, Collin and Brady behind them.

She glanced at everyone before taking a seat with the girl pups, leaning heavily against Leah. The wolf shifted slightly to take the extra weight, before relaxing into the ground. Almost shyly, David crept over to lay against Leah's back. Her tongue lapped out against his ear, before her teeth gave it a tug.

Joseph took his place sitting cross legged on his twin.

Jacob started the meeting; he told the story of the Vargamor to the best of his ability, turning to Max to fill in the spots he couldn't word correctly. Together they informed the pups of what they'd missed at the last 'pack meeting'.

"We're here today to discuss how we're running this ship." He pretended that Sam _wasn't_ giving him a dirty look as he said it. "Max's job is to help put things into perspective for us all." He explained. "To keep us together, keep us working properly. It's been brought to my attention that we function poorly." He ignored the eye rolls, "And I'd like to try and fix it."

"You have to understand that I've never done this before. In theory, I know how it works. But I'm not going to be perfect at this, just like you all aren't perfect at everything you do." She warned. "I'll help as best I can, but don't expect too much."

"Just having you here helps." Jared admitted. Max peered at him, suspiciously. "It does! I was pissed at Kim the other day," Now _that_ raised several eyebrows, "and you...helped calm me down." He shrugged.

"I don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes." She told him, unable to recall the incident in question.

"But you're helping already." Jacob pointed out. "So that's good."

Silence fell upon the group, until Quil quietly asked, "So, ah...how does this...work?"

Max huffed out a long winded sigh, leaned her head back against Leah. "I don't know. I guess you guys can voice concerns, or questions, and I'll try to find a solution. We shoot ideas back and forth until we find the thing that'll work best."

The wolves mulled it over, until a small hand shot into the air.

"Yes Sarah?" Jacob asked his youngest Packmate, giving the girl a soft smile. He really did love his pups.

The girl glanced at Marie, then shrugged. "Ah, they sent a note home with us last Monday. Marie and I need to get our needles, the school said. Or we can't go to classes anymore. But when I fell last week, I didn't even scrape my knee, the rock kind of...broke." She looked down.

"Doesn't Forks cover the shots?" Brady asked, peering over his Alpha's shoulder at the rest of his Pack.

"Yeah, actually. Or they did when I was in school." Jacob scratched at his chin.

"Doesn't your vampire work there?" Max piped up.

"Carlisle? Yeah, why?"

"Couldn't you ask him to volunteer? I know he did something to the thermometers." She had heard _that_ from Joseph and David. "I'm sure he can use some kind of weird needle, or take them to a seperate room..."

"They let lady nurses give the girls shots." Marie informed the group.

"Esme helps Carlisle out at the hospital sometimes, she's a certified nurse. We could ask her." Seth told them. "I can make a run by their house before my patrol tonight, if you'd like."

Jacob was nodding, an excited gleam in his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, that works. Max, you can talk to us all, right? In our heads?" He tapped his temple as he asked. She made a noise of agreement. "Great. I'll let you know when Seth knows, and you can let the pups know." He gestured to the girls.

"That's a lot of knows." Embry yawned, half asleep against his Alpha's side.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Emb. Go home and grab some sleep, you have classes in the morning." Jake stood, grinned lazily at Max. "You're the best. We never would have thought of that."

_Because you never think, moron._ Leah thought. Max snorted out a laugh as the she wolf wagged her tail.

"But...but...vampire's...treaty line..." James wasn't comfortable with the idea of Sarah being alone with a _vampire_.

"Oh come on, it's only Esme!" Joseph sighed, tossing his arms into the air. "She's not even really a vampire. And she makes _cookies_ man."

"Yeah, her cookies are _way_ better than Sue or Emily's!" Marie exclaimed, before shoving both her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and focused on Sam.

The ex-Alpha laughed. "Well, it's true. Esme makes good cookies." He couldn't even say that he hated her, despite what she was. Esme had always been gentle and kind to them, lending food when they might not have had meals. She was a good woman, despite her unfortunate condition.

"Yeah, she's really nice James. You don't have to worry about Esme." Isaac spoke up. All the wolves hushed, as the young pup rarely, if ever, spoke. "She's so sweet if she went out in the rain, she'd melt." He added, before clamming up again.

"Right, so it's settled. Seth will go ask for Nurse Esme, and he'll bring us all back cookies. Right Seth?" Jacob clapped his Beta on the shoulder.

"Right."

"Good." He scooped Max up for a Jacob Black Patented cheek kiss, snickering at her grimace as she wiped it off of her face.

"So gross."

"Love you too V. All right, pups need to be escorted home, then everyone get back to their lives."

_What little lives we have_. Leah pointed out as she rolled, stretched, sighed, and pranced off with the girls.

All Seth could think about was cookies.


	12. Chapter 12

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Twelve**

"So, you girls had your shots today?" Paul joked, leaning against the side of his truck. Marie and Sarah were going to a 'study date' at Isaac's - one that the boys parents didn't know about. The girls' parents knew Isaac's family, knew the boy was a bit of a book worm, and were more than happy to let their daughters go for a math group, especially with Sarah struggling so hard with subtraction.

"Yep. It hurt like, so much." Marie rolled her eyes playfully, prying the old trucks door open. "Can you take us to get ice cream? We saved up our money. Sarah, you gotta sit in the middle, I get motion sick, I need to have a window."

"You do?" The younger girl asked quietly as she climbed into the vehicle. She was shaking...just a bit, though. She didn't - okay, it was a lie. She knew exactly why Paul bugged her so much. He always looked like he was ready to jump down someone's throat, or bite their head off! She didn't know _what_ would set the older wolf off, and she sure as heck didn't want to be it!

"Yeah, it's gross, I get all huuuu." Marie hacked, making gagging noises. Sarah crinkled her nose, feeling her own stomach lurch uneasily.

"Ew, gross."

"Okay c'mon. Get buckled up, and let's get this show on the road." Paul snapped, impatient. Marie flashed him an impish grin, but Sarah fell silent, eyes glued to the floor. Their littlest wolf was the most submissive wolf, he knew. Still, something didn't feel right about Sarah, the way she acted around him. It made him feel guilty, and he didn't know why. Guilty and angry. "Oh for fu - I'm not going to hurt you, kid." He swiped a hand across his face, aggitated. Angry mostly at Jacob, for putting him on Puppy Patrol for the afternoon.

The Alpha had decided the girls didn't get out enough, and that they needed _bonding_ time. Paul rolled his eyes, started the truck up when Marie finally clambered in and slammed the door shut behind her. He took to the road as soon he heard the click of two seatbelts. "Everybody good?" He asked as he pulled away from the curb.

He hadn't picked them up from the school parking lot; Instead, he had allowed Isaac to walk the girls halfway to his house, and he picked them up from there.

"Everything is A-Okay, Captain P."

His eye twitched at the nickname. He sincerely hoped it wouldn't stick although, deep down, he knew it would.

"What're One and Two up to?" Marie asked. The girl was always an endless stream of chatter. Paul wondered what the fuck Jacob was thinking when he put him on Puppy Patrol. He was so not cut out for this shit.

"Who the f-heck're One and Two?"

"Leah and Seth!"

Sarah groaned and covered her face with both hands.

"Cause Leah pisses people off and Seth's a little _shit_." Marie said the word proudly, testing Paul. She didn't know much about the man. He didn't scold her for her language, choosing instead to bark out a harsh laugh.

"The hell came up with that?"

"The twins." Marie said gleefully, bouncing in her seat. "Isn't it just fantabulous?"

"Seriously? Right now I'm just afraid of how crazy you're going to be when you're older." Marie definately did _not_ talk like an eight year old girl, although he knew she could act the part when it pleased her. The girl was an only child - slightly spoiled, he knew - and liked acting 'older than she was'. Which usually fell apart as soon as there was other children to bug. Or boss around. Man, Marie needed to stop hanging out with Leah. "And anyway, I thought you _liked_ Leah."

"Oh, we do. We love Leah, actually, she's our favorite." Marie was speaking for both herself and Sarah, then. Fantastic. "We just know she pisses you guys off." She said flippantly, rolling the window down a bit. She really was looking a little green...Paul hoped she didn't upchuck in his truck.

"Leah doesn't piss us off." He argued, slowly rolling onto the highway.

"She does." Marie argued right back. "We can hear you guys just as easy as you hear us. Leah makes Sam angry a lot. Why is that?" She was genuinely curious, glancing at Paul with wide eyes. It was rare to get one-on-one time with any of the wolves, so of course she'd ask questions...

Paul cursed Jacob again.

"Sam, Leah, Jared and I have known each other for a long time, okay? It's more complicated than Leah pissing Sam off, and you're way too young for the full story."

"So tell us part of the story." Sarah said quietly. She didn't want to invade Leah's privacy, not when the wolf had been so kind to her, had taken care of her since day one. Still, it would be nice to know. Maybe there was something she could do to make Leah feel better!

She still wouldn't look at him, but she was talking to him. That was a start. He sighed and shook his head, looked out his window rather than at the road or the girls. "Remember how you were told about imprinting?"

"Yeah...?" Marie was holding her breath, excited to know something new about the Pack. They weren't told anything, really, that didn't effect them directly.

"Well basically, Sam and Leah were...you know, together." He waved a hand in the air. "Back when we were all in high school. Anyway, Sam imprinted and they had to break up."

"Wait, why?" Sarah's head shot up, a horrified look on her face.

"Because that's what we do. We have to be there for our imprints." He shrugged.

"But...if they were in love, why did he imprint? Why did his imprint make him be with her? Aren't imprints supposed to do whats best for them, and for the wolf?" Marie's questions came hard and fast. It was clear that neither girl had made the connection that...that Sam's imprint was Emily, Leah's own cousin. Paul was grateful for that small favor.

"Can't the wolf be whatever the imprint wants?" Sarah added.

"He imprinted because she's his soul mate, she wanted to be Sam's wife, she thinks it's best for them, and yes, Sarah. The wolf will be whatever the imprint wants. She wanted him to be her husband, so." He shrugged, again.

"What a horrible woman! To break up a happy couple, just cause of some magic? Poor Leah! No wonder she gets so angry. Oh wow...I hate that lady! What a biiii..." Marie trailed off because Paul _was_ giving her a look, then. "What an evil lady!"

"That's garbage. Sam should have stayed where he was happy! He always looks so sad now!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Sam's sad sometimes, but so are the rest of us. I don't think imprinting's all that great, either, but it's part of us. Just like the fur."

"Sarah?"

"Yeah Marie?"

"If I ever imprint, I want you to feed me to the Cullen's in little wolfy kibble bits, okay?"

Paul choked on air. Christ, these pups were going to be the death of him.

"Only if you promise to do the same for me."

Paul choked on air for a second time, and thanked his ancestors when Forks' shabby little ice cream shack came into view. "We're here." He coughed out, pounding himself on the chest.

"Yay! Ice cream!" Marie pried the door open before the truck had fully stopped, hopping out. She waited for Sarah, though, bouncing on the balls of her feet as the younger wolf made her way out - much slower, and much safer, Paul noted.

He suspected they'd have a problem with Marie when she got older. He hoped - damn, he was doing too much of that - that he'd be done phasing by the time she hit her teen years. He didn't think he could handle her _and_ Leah.

He leaned against a table inside the parlour as the girls pulled out their money. Combined, they could afford two child sized cones. It made his heart twist in a weird way, and he shook his head. "How about you two save your money, and I'll pay this time, okay? You guys can buy something better, or save up for something bigger." Without thinking he was crossing the small space, settling a hand on Sarah's head.

She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Really Paul? Thanks!"

He smiled, for the first time in a long time. Ice cream was apparently a turning point in their friendship. He was surprised to find himself wishing that he could be _friends_ with his two youngest pack mates.

They ate their ice cream outside, but still managed to make a sticky mess inside of his truck as he drove to his house. Oddly enough, Paul didn't mind. He didn't mind at all.

ZZZ

Isaac didn't usually lie, but he would do anything for Pack. The quietest wolf of all was secretly the most grateful, the most loyal wolf of all. Sure, he wasn't that strong. Sure, he didn't talk that much - but he didn't talk because he didn't want to fudge it all up. For the first time in his life he felt like he had _friends_, people he could rely on. They called him Brother, and he was proud to be a part of something bigger than himself.

Sure, he was young, but he had never really had friends. Ever since phasing, Joseph and David had begun hanging around him. Playful punches, head locks, wrestling. He felt loved, in a way that his parents wouldn't be able to provide, no matter how hard they tried. He loved his mom and dad, but it was nice to hang with kids his own age. Even _if_ some of the wolves were much older. Heck, Seth and Embry could act like kids when they wanted, plus, Collin and Brady weren't that much older than him.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't pay attention to his surroundings until it was too late.

He bumped into the kid when he stepped out of the bushes, tilted his head back to stare up at the taller male. He knew they went to the same school, that this kid was an _eighth_ grader, but he couldn't place the name. "Oh - ah, sorry." He stuttered, stepping backwards.

He was met by another chest. His shoulders tensed, his nostrils flared, and his ears strained. Three, there was only three. He could hear their hearts beating, pumping fast due to adrenaline. Isaac realized, too late, that he was getting jumped.

"Got anything important on ya?" The first one asked, even as the second ripped his backpack away from him.

"No, some ah - pocket change, but. You can have it if you-" The sentence died as his shoulder was grabbed, as the first slammed a hand into his stomach, winding him. He was strong, yes, but his stomach was sensitive beneath his rib cage. He swore an organ had been smacked.

Every instinct he had screamed to fight back. He was shaking, but only slightly. Of all the pups, he had the best control - so long as there were no Nessie or vampire around. He clamped down on the wolf, coughed, blinked dazedly as blood dribbled out of his nose and onto the ground.

Every instinct he had screamed to fight back, but every coherent thought had had screamed to get away. He couldn't fight back - yeah, his stomach was sensitive, but his fists were like steel. He could _kill_ somebody if he fought back. Instead, he jerked, tried to get away from the second.

The third was going through his backpack. It bugged him, in a territorial sort of way. It bugged him more than the second dragging him into the trees bugged him.

He hit the ground hard, whimpered when the steel toe of a hiking boot went flying into his knee cap. Another soft spot, just under the ridge of the bone. A second foot caught him in the groin, caused him to yowl. Isaac rolled onto his side, curled into a ball. Tried to protect the parts of him that were weak - nose, stomach, groin, his joints.

He didn't realize how weak a wolves neck was until he got a boot there. He shifted his head, heard the pop. He took three more blows before he screamed. His form shimmered on the ground, became solid again; Still human, still human, he chanted, the urge to _protect_ as strong as his urge to _destroy_. He was crying, sobbing, when help finally arrived.

The first one was grabbed by the back of the shirt, smacked harshly across the back of the head. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're _doing_?" It was a man's voice, deep and thundering, full of rage. Isaac felt it shake him to the core. Fear made his throat seize.

"Get the hell out of here." A woman, then. "_Now_!" She bellowed, fake-lunging at the second and third. The man released the first and together, the trio of cowards rushed away. "Awwh, fuck, Isaac. I'm sorry."

Max. It was Max. He felt the Vargamor kneeling at his side. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head, no.

"Come on, then, let me see. We got you."

_We_. Isaac uncurled enough to peer past Max, at the imposing figure or Wil Black. The man had a bag of milk, and a carton of eggs sitting at his feet. _They must have been at the store._ He thought, dazed.

Max had had to find an excuse to get Wil to walk that way, to get to Isaac. None of the wolves had been close enough. "We got you." She repeated. She felt the boys shame, at being beaten by normal humans. Max felt pride - that he had managed to not phase, that he had done the right thing. She also felt guilt, that the wolves were so afraid of themselves that they were helpless in the real world. She promised herself she'd teach them how to control their strength, if nothing else. Humans could be just as big an enemy as a vampire.

"I - I can't..." He whimpered into the ground, pressing his hands into his throbbing groin. Realizing the cause, Max backed away.

"Wil, I, ah..."

"I got him. Go wait at the street." He told her, stepping through the underbrush to kneel at Isaac's head. He waited until Max was gone before he began asking questions. "Think you can walk, son?" He helped the boy uncurl while waiting for the answer.

"I'm sorry..."

"You don't have anything to apologize for." Wil huffed, tilting Isaac's face. The nose had stopped bleeding, but there was blood smeared across the kids face. Without thinking, he licked his thumb, used his saliva to clean the red from the boys skin. He frequently spit-cleaned his sons.

Isaac blinked, surprised at the gesture. His parents were the kind to always have wet wipes or napkins on them. He dragged a sleeve across his face, surprised to find it come away clean. Wil was still watching him, head tilted to the side like a dog. "Thanks...?"

"No problem. Nothin' else got hurt right?" Wil glanced down at the rest of the child.

"No..."

"You'll want to put an ice pack on that when you get in. Trust me, I've been kicked where the sun don't shine my fair share. If you notice any..." Wil grimaced, glanced away. He felt awkward talking about...those things, with a kid "Swelling or...weird stuff, just tell your parents. Get 'em to take you to a doctor if they have too, a'right?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Isaac shyly allowed Wil to help him stand, and brushed off his pants. "Sorry again that you had to go out of your way."

"No problem, son." Wil grabbed his milk, retrieved Isaac's bag from a low hanging branch. Handed it to the boy, and waited patiently for Isaac to begin moving towards Max. "Need us to walk you home?"

"No, I don't think I'll have any more trouble." Isaac paused at the street, stared at the ground. "Your- Joseph and...David. They're...really nice to me. They're good...friends." He told Wil awkwardly. "You did good with them." He scampered away before Wil could respond.

The man scratched the back of his head, brow furrowed.

"What?" Max asked him, amused.

"Nothin'. Just that's the first time I've had a kid compliment me on my parenting skills. When the boys get home from class tomorrow, can you ask them if that kids all right?"

"No problem, Wil. No problem at all."

ZZZ

A blinding, flashing light woke Paul up. He jerked, froze, forced himself to relax back into the floor. "What the fuck?" He whisper-shouted, squinting up at Seth. The Beta was grinning at him, infuriating little prick.

"You're just so-o-o-o cute." Seth whisper-squealed, squishing his face.

Paul glanced down at the two little girls sprawled across his chest. Blearily, he rubbed his face. "Fuck."

"What happened?"

"We fell asleep watching My Little Pony." His still tired brain couldn't keep up with his mouth. He swore again.

"Fucking. Adorable." Seth sighed happily. "I came to relieve you of Puppy Patrol duties. They get to walk home from Isaac's together, and Sarah's mom's meeting her at Marie's house. They did their math work, right?"

"Yeah, we did it before I'd let them watch Ponies." Paul reached an arm out to close his laptop. He allowed the Beta to wake the sleeping girls.

As they gathered math books, crayons, pencils, and drawings, Seth softly told Paul about the incident with Isaac. The older wolf was snarling dangerously by the time the story was finished being told.

"Bullshit. Get someone to walk him home now, he's only gonna get more shit now that Wil and Max stepped in. Fuck, I'll walk him if I have to."

Seth grinned, impishly. "I was hoping you'd say that. You and Sammy boy are on Isaac Duty until you get put back on Girl Time. More bonding!" Seth clapped his Packmate on the shoulder. "Thanks for this man!" He ushered his youngest wolves out Paul's front door before the man could begin to argue.

Paul sighed at his empty house, then glanced down at the drool stain on his shirt. Oddly, he didn't mind.


	13. Chapter 13

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Thirteen**

"You know when I said you needed to bond more, I didn't mean with me, right?" Max asked, squished between her Alpha and her Beta.

Jacob laughed. "Yeah, well, you're Pack too, right?" He elbowed her lightly, staring out across the ocean. It was a rainy day, which meant no one was up on the cliffs. It was the perfect spot to bring Max, who he suspected wouldn't really enjoy shopping.

"You also know your pups are_ seriously _ lacking, right?" She settled her elbows on her knees, leaned forwards. "Isaac shouldn't have gotten beaten up like that, Jake. I never realized it, but the younger wolves are seriously defenseless. They're softer. The vampire that sent your twins to the ICU wasn't a fluke; their bones, skin, everything. It's not as strong as yours."

"That makes sense." Seth mused, "They're still growing. Young things are always more bendy, aren't they?"

"Usually. He healed up fast enough, yeah, but he still got hurt. And he couldn't even fight back. He's too afraid. They're all afraid of losing control, hurting someone. With them being...isolated from kids their own age, due to all of this, you can bet that more pups are going to get their asses handed to them."

"So, what does the great and lovely Max suggest?" Jake drawled, leaning backwards until he could finally flop against the soft soil.

"The great and lovely Max suggests we start training the younger wolves to defend themselves against everything. Isaac didn't have to hit back to get them to go away. He can run faster than all of them, too. It was a matter of him being afraid. I know they're kids, but you're raising them to be soliders Jake. They can't show fear like that. If three little kids could scare him so shitless, imagine what a Coven, or even a rogue vampire could do? He just...sat there."

Jacob blew a long breath out his nose. "I know, we saw the next time he was phased. Plus, I hope if a vampire got through our borders -" He saw the look Max gave him, disaproval rolling off of her in waves. Truth was, they _had_ let a vampire get by before, and it had resulted in his twins staying at the hospital. "...The only good thing about phasing when we all did, was that no one fucked with us anymore. Well, except Embry." The Alpha looked thoughtful as he changed the topic, "People still picked on him." People had _always_ picked on Embry.

"What about Leah?"

Seth growled. "Leah never got shit from anyone in school, she spent all her time with Paul, Jare and Sam." He hesitated. "She got more shit after she phased than when she was taking classes."

That caught Max's attention. "Who gave her shit?"

"We all did." Jacob said softly. "When Leah phased, her father was...he was shocked. He had a heart attack; she blamed herself. None of us did, there was so much other shit going on but...Well Leah and Sam had a history. When she was forced into our heads, she made our lives hell and in return, we treated her...not all that great." It was still hard for the Alpha to talk about. "Girls aren't supposed to phase. I almost had a heart attack myself when Marie and Sarah ended up phasing."

"Wait, what do you mean girls aren't supposed to phase?" Max gave him a puzzled look. "My grandmother was with lycans and they're another story entirely, but the shifters in the town over had an Alpha female."

"Our legends don't speak of female wolves. Female wolves for us, are phased wrong. It's why we were surprised that the younger girls made the transition so easily, it was hard for Leah."

"Because the love of her life abandoned her!" Max stood, put her hands on her hips, and glared at the wolves at her feet.

"How do you -"

"I'm in all your heads, remember? Leah thinks about it, a lot." She shook her head. "I know of a lot of female shifters. It doesn't make sense to _not_ have female's phase. With wolves, the female's do a lot of the fighting. Ever seen a lioness?"

"Whoa, there are lion shi-"

"I have no idea, I've never met one, wouldn't really like to. What I'm saying is, it makes no sense. Who told you that there wasn't any such thing as female shifters?"

"The legends. Well, the real legends, not the PG13 version in the books."

"Well, where are the real legends?"

"In the elders heads."

"But the only elders in town anymore are..."

"Old Quil." Seth shook his head.

ZZZ

"Hey brat." Paul rumpled Isaac's hair playfully. He was the only wolf whose family didn't give him shit for his group of friends. The only younger wolf, anyway. His parents were just glad that he _had_ friends. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing." Isaac trembled under the hand, from excitement. Getting attention from any of the wolves - especially the older one's - was always the high light of his day. He caught a glimpse of the boys from a few days before, shifted closer to Paul.

The wolf growled.

"Cool it." Sam elbowed his friend lightly. "Nothing will happen." It had better not.

"Whatever man." Paul shook his head at Sam, elbowed him back. "Don't nudge me."

"Shut up." The ex Alpha grinned, a quick flash of teeth. Isaac caught himself staring, wide eyed. It wasn't often that Sam smiled, and in reality, those looks were mostly reserved for Emily or Leah. "Isaac, do you want to go home? Or go out somewhere else?"

"I actually have to collect some leaves and stuff for a project." Isaac scratched his nose. "Pinecones, that sort of thing."

"Ugh, they still do that stupid nature thing? I heard in other schools, they have kids collect stuff on vacation. I guess since none of us _go_ anywhere they make us grab shit from La Push. Like none of us have ever seen a fucking leaf before." Paul pushed away from the fence he had been leaning against, looking irritated.

"We can't even take the rocks from the beach. When Leah and I did the project, we snagged a few rocks from the woods. We found a really cool one, it was black but when she stuck it in some water to clean it, it turned orange. It ended up becoming black again though." Sam looked thoughtful. "We can help you find some stuff. Paul always was the best at finding leaves. Hey remember that time when you -"

"Shut up, man."

Isaac snickered. Paul and Sam were always at their best when it was just _them_. Well, he assumed that. He hadn't seen them hanging around with Jared as of yet. "That's fine, I don't mind doing it myself."

"Nah, we'll go with you. Seriously. Pack bonding, remember?" Paul stalked off to the woods. It had been raining all day. School had been let out for over half an hour. There were no more students waiting for rides, or friends, and the faculty had taken off at the first possible chance. It was safe to run around for a bit.

"Oh, right."

"It's not the only reason we're with you, Isaac." Sam soothed, picking up on the childs discomfort. "You are Pack. Whether we were being ordered or not, we still want to spend time with you. It's just hard with our schedules. Now that Jake's making us make time, it's just easier to find it, you know?"

"Is Emily, uhm...Is she okay? With this, I mean?"

"What? Us spending time with you? You're Pack." Sam repeated.

Ahead of them, Paul snorted. He had already cleared the tree line and stood, shirtless, in a small clearing. At Sam's amused look, he shrugged. "It's fuckin' hot to be wearing clothes when you're as smoking as me."

"Yeah, right. You're the sexiest, Paul." Sam deadpanned.

"Hey, all the bitches want me. I just don't want all the bitches."

"Stepping out of the closet, there?"

Paul glared. "You know what I mean. I don't want to pull a Sam." He snapped.

"Can we not? Not right now."

Isaac stayed quiet as he stooped down to scoop a pinecone into his hands.

"Yeah. Sorry." Paul heaved a sigh, glanced around, headed deeper into the woods. Isaac noted he'd pulled off his shoes already, the laces tied together and hanging over his shoulder, over his soaked shirt.

"Do you think that I'll..."

"What? Imprint?" Sam finished. He had learned early on that even if Isaac would speak, he would very rarely finish a sentence, let alone a question.

"Yeah, that." Isaac's head bobbed in a furious nod, while he refused to meet either man's eyes.

"Who knows? It's supposed to be a rare thing."

"Do they know why it happened? When we had our bonfire, Old Quil and Billy never said why, just that...it did."

"No. No one really knows why we do it. They say it's supposed to make the wolf stronger, and to maybe breed stronger baby wolves." Paul explained, hopping onto an old rock.

"Huh. How does that make sense though? The first thing you guys taught was were the calls for vampire, and for imprint in danger. I mean, doesn't the imprint sort of make the wolf vulnerable? If you were to lose Emily, or something were to happen to her - not that I want anything to happen to her, mind you - wouldn't that cripple you, sort of? I mean, you nearly phased in Billy's yard the time Emily pinched her finger in the door and started bleeding."

The older wolves had paused, staring at Isaac in near-awe. Not for what he was saying; for the fact that he was saying anything at all. It was the most the pup had ever said to either of them, ever.

"I...never really looked at it that way." Sam said lamely, looking to Paul for answers. His friend had none.

"Wasn't our first Alpha...didn't he like...have three wives? Plus his imprint? Or something like that." Isaac couldn't really remember all of it, that first bonfire was foggy in his mind.

"Yeah, actually." Paul blinked back at Sam, owlishly.

"So..."

"So I'm an asshole." Sam groaned, dropping his head against the trunk of a tree.

Isaac cringed. "Well, no I -"

"Hey, come on. Grab some leaves. I'll walk you home." Paul knew Sam needed alone time. He snagged Isaac by the back of the shirt, lightly hauling the pup away from his old Alpha. He was silent as he watched Isaac pick at the ground, birdlike as he searched for project materials.

He couldn't believe that none of them had thought of that before.

Once, when Paul had been very young, he had been close with his mother. Her old sayings had stuck in his mind even after he phased, after their relationship began to crumble. She had always believed that he - a mere boy - had been smarter than her, than his father. She had said it was because children were innocent, that hate and anger never clouded their judgement for long. She had told him that children, for all of their innocence, had a hard time seeing the world as solely black or white.

When he had asked why, the woman had responded with a smile and a gentle, "Paul, you just answered your own question."

_Why_. Without acceptance, there was wonder and children, for all of their blind trust, always wanted to know _why_.

Paul couldn't focus anymore. He took Isaac home.

ZZZ

"Where's Sam?"

She stood at the counter, elbow deep in soapy water. The smell of freshly baked muffins wafted to his nose as he stood in the doorway, watching her. She was standing so he couldn't see her scars, only the smooth softness of the untouched side of her face. Her hair was in a braid, laying heavy between her shoulders. She'd been growing it out. A part of him cringed at how much she could look like Leah.

"Out." Was all he said. He knew this would end in a fight - not with Emily, but with Sam. The wolf was already upset, he had known that when he had left his friend alone in the woods. Still. Sometimes a wolf had to do what a wolf had to do. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. That's nice." If Isaac wasn't one for words, Paul sure as hell wasn't. Emily dried her hands on a towel, bounced up to sit on the counter. "What did you want to talk to me about?" She asked, sensing something yet nothing was out of the ordinary. She was used to Pack dropping by. Paul especially was like a piece of furniture, he spent so much time with Sam.

"Imprinting."

"Oh!" She grinned. "Thinking of turning to the dark side?"

"No. I just have some questions." He didn't move closer. "The wolf becomes what the imprint wants. That's what we've always been taught. You...wanted Sam?" It wasn't the best worded, but it was the most he could come up with.

"Well, no. Not originally. He pursued me so much that I -"

"That you...what? Took all of your and Leah's late night chats to granted?" He flashed her a smile, dull and flat. "I'm in Leah's head all the time, Em. I know what she thinks about. She was on the phone with you all the time about him."

"Yes, well he's my -"

"Lover? Fiance? Your soon to be husband? Why?"

"Well, he's my wolf."

"But you could have said no."

Silence crept upon them, tension so thick in the air you could have cut it with Emmett's fangs. "I beg your pardon?" Emily asked, breathless. Paul could hear her heart hammering in her chest.

"How long have you been in love with Sam, Em?" Paul asked the question softly, staring the imprint down.

More silence. "I think you better go."

"Emily."

"A long time Paul. Now, I think you better go. I need to get dinner started, Sam should be home any second. Please leave. Now."

Shrugging, Paul left, heedless of the tears that he could smell coming from Emily as he quietly shut the front door. He was surprised that the smell didn't twist his insides, or make him crave for someone's blood. Maybe it was because he was the cause. Maybe, just maybe, it was because he just didn't care.

ZZZ

In Wilbur's kitchen, Max dropped a knife. She hissed when it nearly landed on her toe, jerking out of the way just in time. "Fuck!"

"Max? What's wrong?" Wil strode into the kitchen, towel in hand. He had been drying his hair.

Not knowing what to say, Max shrugged helplessly. "I think life just got a helluva lot more complicated for me."

The mans face paled. "You're not - you know. Pregnant?"

Max's jaw dropped. She stared. She doubled over in laughter, finding it painful to breathe. "Oh. Oh - God, no! No!"

"Don't hit me, but...Good."

Max laughed harder.

**AN: The lovely SL has brought to light a good question: Just how did some human punk ass kids beat the snot out of our poor Isaac? I promise, this will be explained, in depth. We sort of touched on it here, with Max explaining how unprepared Isaac was. We'll touch on it again, soon.**

**I'd like to thank all of the wonderful people who have been reviewing, and the ones who have faved/alerted this story. I know I don't do authors notes very often, but I feel like I need to do another one! You guys have been amazing, and I'm very grateful for every comment or 'like' that I get.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Where are the little ones?" Max asked casually as she shrugged out of her sweater. Beneath it, she wore a tight muscle shirt. From behind her Leah could see the outline of a sports bra. The she wolf tilted her head.

"Marie, James and Sarah couldn't make it." Edmund replied, frowning down at his math homework. Beside him, Isaac made a quiet noise, used his own pencil to carry over Edmund's three. "Oh, thanks." He glanced back at Max. "Their parents didn't want them coming out. The girls are having a study session, and James is grounded for mucking up another pair of clothes."

"That's balls. Dad never gets mad at us." Joseph looked to David, and at the same time, both wolves grinned. "Boys will be boys!" They recited in their best Dad voice.

Max choked down a snort of laughter. The twins were surprisingly good at mocking their father, and, it was actually pretty hilarious. "Okay then. I guess I'll do this with them another time. Paul you're up, get over here."

The bruised wolf rumbled a growl, but did as told. Jacob had ordered them to do as Max instructed. The Alpha himself was leaning against a tree, watching the group with half lidded eyes.

He limped the short distance to Max, head held high. He was sore, yes, but he wasn't about to let the Pack think he was weak from one little fight. He had had no idea that wounds from another wolf would hurt more than a sucker punch from a vamp. Sam had really done a number on him. It had been two days since the fight, and Paul's ribs still protested from where Sam's giant wolf-head had rammed him.

Max didn't ask him if he was all right; it wasn't in her nature to baby people, least of all a grown man. She had seen the fight from both sides and later, had heard about it from their Beta. Plus, asking _Paul_ something like that would upset him. He hated to look weak. She knew as well, that for as hard as she could hit, it wouldn't hurt Paul nearly as much as Sam had. He'd be fine.

As his eyes squinted with pain and his lips curled from his teeth, Max assured herself once more; He'd be fine.

"I know you've all talked to Jacob about this. This was my idea, and let's be honest. The only one out of your lot that knows how to throw a decent punch is Embry." She told the group. She could see Embry straighten up, to her left, and she smiled. A little ego boosting would never make _that_ wolves head to big. "Sam and Paul are okay, but they let their anger control them when they fight. Emb has actually had to fight for a _reason_, and that was to protect himself. You're no longer fighting just to protect you. You have a _reason_ to fight now, and that's to protect everyone _else_. Because you have the strength to do it. All you're lacking is skill. Which, as it so happens, I have plenty of." She turned in a circle so she could address _all_ the wolves. "There's going to be times when phasing wolf won't be enough. When you'll have to rely on your head and your hands to get the job done. When maybe, it isn't something your claws will work against. Like Isaac's incident the other day. Good job for not phasing, bud." She stopped finally, facing Paul once more. "You won't just be having school yard brawls anymore, though. It's much bigger than that. So let's get this show on the road, it's my turn to cook dinner tonight."

"So what do you want me to do?" Paul was shirtless, again, and he spread his arms wide. He stared down at Max, a cocky smirk on his mouth.

He never saw her move. One minute, she was in front of him. The next, he was yelping in pain as her fist bounced into the sensitive skin under the ribs on his right side. No bone to protect, just skin. "I don't have to be a vampire to hurt you Paul. Keep yourself guarded, and stop being an asshole."

He watched her more carefully from then on. He couldn't hit _back_, as Max had explained she was _definately_ not as sturdy as them, but he could move quick enough that he could block her punches. She went for the spots where Isaac had been hit - joints in the body, places where the bone didn't cover all the flesh. She actually socked him in the arm pit at one point, and that had _hurt_.

His anger and annoyance grew, but Paul had been given an order. That order was to do as Max asked, for as long as she asked. So he blocked her, to the best of his ability, and found it getting easier with time. He realized she was hitting him in a pattern, began following it. Their session went from choppy and humiliating, to smooth and almost...elegant.

Still, an order when not Alpha wammied was just an order, and Paul could break though. He grabbed Max's wrist when the woman went for his ribs again, twisted her arm around her own body, and then dragged her to his chest. His other arm secured itself around her waist, holding both hands immobile. He squeezed. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to let her know that he _could_. "I'm done now." He told her and, when she forced herself to relax against him, he released her. Backed away slowly.

"That was good. Do you see what Paul did there? He made it so I couldn't move, and he didn't have to hit me once." Max shook off the 'hug', twisted around to face the rest of the group. "That can come in handy with humans, or with a particularly nasty vampire. If you get their arm around their throat, a bit higher up than Paul had mine, they won't be able to slink down and bite you. It gives the rest of your Pack the opportunity to kill, or if it's say..." A glance at Isaac "A human? It gives you a shield against other humans, and it gives you a minute to call for help, or think of a way out of it."

Paul was surprised that she had praised him for it.

"That was good. That was really good." She was speaking to Paul, once more. "You didn't let your anger get control of you, and you kept a clear head. You could see what I was doing, moved with it, then ended it. I think you'll be fine once I start teaching you guys how to fight back, rather than just defend."

"How are you going to teach us how to fight?" Embry asked. He was leaning towards her, eyes wide.

"My body isn't strong enough to handle a blow from one of you. I _am_ stronger than the average human, but I'm still more fragile than the pups." She said it honestly, because Max didn't see it as a weakness - she _was_ human and she was _not_ as strong as a wolf. It was the truth. "Jake and I were discussing it, and I think that for the first bit, I'll be teaching you moves like a martial arts instructer. Showing you how to do them, and letting you spar against each other. If we need to, I can get into your heads during the sparring and help you by telling you what to do, so the other wolf can't hear."

"So you'll be teaching us like an actual class." Embry tilted his head to the side, thinking.

"When we're done with basic training, it'll be up to you guys to put it to practice. I think after that, we're going to try working on the anger issues you all have." At their blank stares, Max elaborated. "You guys are supposed to be soldiers. Like I said to Paul, it was good that he didn't get angry at me. When you're fighting, no matter what it is, you can't let a failed math test, or a fight with your girlfriend cloud your mind. You need to keep focus. That's not to say you can't _feel_, because face it. Emotions are what make us...us. You just have to be able to push them aside, to think freely. I know it'll help some of you more than others." A pointed look at Leah.

The she wolf bristled and flipped Max off. Max smirked.

"See?"

"Fuck you."

"Sorry Leah, I don't swing that way."

Sam wondered how the hell Max and Leah could hate each other so much.

Max ran through basic dodging with the pups, Leah, and Jared before she called it a night. Since coming to La Push, she hadn't been fighting all that much, and the wolves had pretty good endurance. She hated to admit it, but she was getting tired.

"I'll walk with you." Sam declared, after the Pack had headed off for patrol's, homework, and dinner with their families. He was standing behind the pups, gazing past them at Max. "If that's okay." He added.

"Ask what you need to ask, Sam." She turned away, headed back through the woods. "But yeah, do it while we're walking." Without hesitation or thought, the twins settled on either side of her. Close, yet not touching.

"The thing you said, about emotions clouding our judgement. Can judgement...cloud our emotions?" He asked, walking behind her. She realized the old Alpha was doing so out of respect, felt her insides twist the slightest bit. It was just so strange to be part of something, finally, after having no one at all.

"What? You mean, like, your thoughts keeping you from feeling properly?" She knew what he was asking - she could hear the questions in his head - but she wanted to talk it out. Damn, this Pack was changing her.

"Yeah. Can over thinking cloud your true feelings?"

"It can. Lots of things can. A lot of times, thinking you're doing the right thing...doesn't always make it the right thing. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Sam mulled it over, for a long time. They were at the tree line before he spoke again. "You knew what I was thinking, didn't you?" When she nodded in affirmative, he hummed, deeply. "Thank you, Max." He stepped around her and the twins. "You've been really...helpful."

As Sam walked away, Max smiled. She called after him, "That's my _job_, Sam!" And took pleasure in his short, sharp, laugh.

ZZZ

It had been three days since their Pack training session, and really, Sarah was getting to big to sit on Leah's hip, but neither of them cared. It was comforting to the older wolf, to craddle something against her side and, if Sarah was being honest, it was nice to have someone who could actually _hold_ her. She had hit a bit a growth spurt - she had grown two inches taller - and put on a few extra pounds. Her dad wasn't old, but he wasn't young, and running head first into his arms to be twirled around their mud room just wasn't an option anymore. So when Leah scooped her up, Sarah went with it, nestling as close as she could get.

Marie walked on Leah's right side, casually holding the she wolves free hand. "Where are we going?"

"You guys missed the last meeting, and Max wanted to make up some lost time. We're going over to Wil's house, he's out at work. The boys are with Embry and Quil and we, are going to have a girls day."

"Er..." Marie crossed her eyes, pulling a face. "Does that mean Claire, Nessie, Emily and Kim are going to be there?"

"Nope. We're having a real girls day. A Pack girls day. No imprints." Leah sighed happily as Marie hollered in pleasure, letting the older wolf go so she could dance in the street.

"It's not that we don't like them." Sarah explained quickly. "It's just that Nessie makes us feel weird and...we're scared of hurting Claire..." And they had put two-and-two together on the whole Emily ruining Leah's relationship thing. They _hated_ that imprint, despite their instincts screaming to protect. "And Kim always talked about Jared. It gets...old."

Leah noticed that nothing was said about Emily. She didn't voice her concern about it, choosing instead to hoist Sarah up a little bit. "So your mom let you come out with us, huh?"

"No, she let me go out with _you_. She still thinks Seth's a pervert, but daddy likes you."

"I told your dad we were going to Wil's house when I called him earlier."

"Oh. Daddy likes Wil. Mom does too, actually."

"Everybody likes Wil." Marie chirped. "Mom says he's a good guy. She says she knew him when they were high school."

"Everybody knows everybody around here." Leah nodded. She glanced both ways before crossing the street, smirking to herself. Having the pups around always made her more cautious. "And yeah. Everyone likes Wil. He's a good guy though." She finished, pushing open the man's front door.

"He's an awesome guy!" Max hollered to them from the kitchen. "If you're hungry or thirsty, help yourselves. I don't entertain." She strode out, sipping her coffee.

"The f-hell is with you and coffee?" Leah caught her curse, switched it for a lighter one. "Seriously. I wake up, pissed off - coffee. Have a headache? - coffee."

"Feeling annoyed at that stupid boy in class? - coffee." Marie continued, grinning.

"Wait, you tell the pups to drink coffee?"

"_No_. Well, maybe. I don't know. Coffee fixes everything, and when they're in class I'm usually sleeping or distracted. And no, Marie. I'm not giving you coffee. It'll stunt your growth."

"Ooh, can I have some then?" Sarah asked excitedly, as Leah set her down.

Max eyed the youngest wolf, surprised at the new height. "Growing pains?" She asked sympathetically.

"Mm, a bit. That's what mom calls them. It hurts sometimes." Sarah looked down.

"Where?" Leah squatted so she was eye level with the pup.

"All over...like...inside my bones. It makes me ache and ache all night. Mom gives me tylenol." The children's kind. "It doesn't help though...my body just burns it off."

"I'll get Seth to talk to Doc Cullen about a stronger pain medicine. I know you aren't supposed to be taking anything that's not from your mom or dad, but tylenol or aspirin aren't going to help you." Ever.

"Thanks Leah."

"Why don't we go sit in the kitchen? I have a lesson for you guys today." Max cringed at how teacher-ly she sounded. She sipped more coffee, leading everyone to the worn out kitchen table.

There were lighters, matches, a can of Axe deoderant, no-name brand hair spray, and sticks. Max dug in one of the drawers until she found some duct tape, too. "I know you guys carry your clothes around on your ankles. You should start carrying bags." She gave them a grin that made her look just a _little_ bit insane, then settled into her seat. "I'm going to teach you guys how to make fire. The kind of fire you don't need to get near a vampire with, to burn it. If you can't beat it? Set the mother fucker on fire and watch it run around in circles."

"Daddy says I shouldn't play with fire." Sarah breathed, staring wide eyed at their Vargamor.

"Yeah, well, Daddy isn't a supernatural werewolf soldier who fights vampires and can't be _hurt_ by fire. I'm sure he'd understand." Max picked up the Axe, sprayed a bit in the air.

Leah couldn't help herself. She burst into laughter.

ZZZ

"Sam? Are you coming to bed?" Emily hovered beside the television, fingers curled into the thin nightgown she was wearing. It was one of her sexier ones. Sam had been...distant, as of late.

He didn't respond.

"Sam?" She moved closer to the wolf on the couch, letting her hands hitch the nightgown up a little bit more, show a little more leg.

He responded; just not the way she wanted him to. He looked at her, but it was like he was seeing _into_ her, rather than seeing her. "How come you never told me? Or Leah. We would have..." Stopped talking to you.

"I wasn't about to tell Leah that I was in love with her boyfriend." Emily whispered.

"When?"

Emily took a long moment to respond. "Remember that day we were swimming? Leah got pulled under the water, and she was having a hard time getting away. Before Paul or I could even say anything, you had jumped up and run out to save her. It was like...you loved her so much, that not even the ocean could stop you from getting to her. That day, I realized I wanted someone just like you. Someone who could love so...so much." Her hands had left the edge of her skirt, were hovering near her throat now. "After...after the accident. You told me all about imprinting, and...and Sam, you _had_ to love me like that. If I wanted it, you _had_ to."

"Emily..." He murmured. It was hard to be angry at her selfishness. Not because she was his imprint, but because she was so sad. So _guilty_. He stood, walked over to cup her scarred cheek. "I'll always love you." He rumbled. He had been with her too long to _not_ love her. "But right now, I need some time. Okay? I have some thinking I need to do."

"Where are you going to go?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. I'll come by tomorrow to see you, but I need to get out for a bit. Okay?"

"Okay." She whispered once more.

Sam slunk out into the night and Emily slunk to the phone. Not knowing what else to do, the saddened imprint called Sue Clearwater. She called her, and she talked, and she told her everything that Sam had just said. And when she was done, Sue told her not to worry.

And then, Sue called Old Quil.

ZZZ

Sam was drenched by the time his feet stopped walking. His shoes, his pants...they were ruined. He hesitated, then finally knocked on the door.

"Sam?"

"Hey, Paul." The old Alpha said tiredly. "Can I crash here with you?"

Without words, Paul opened the door. They found themselves in Paul's living room, one sprawled on the couch, the other across the floor. They found themselves talking like they had before. Before phasing, before imprinting, before being forced to grow up.

They found themselves as young men rather than young warriors.

They wondered about women, about love, about everything in between - like they had as thirteen year old boys, with their first real crushed at school.

They talked, and they talked, and they _talked_.

When they were done talking, they wondered instead.


	15. Chapter 15

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Sam." Emily stared blearily at her lover, her wolf. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, nose stuffed up from sniffling. She looked like hell, still clothed in the flimsy gown from the night prior. "You came back." Her voice was watery to her own ears, quivering. Hopeful. She swallowed against the lump in her throat, backed away from the door.

He had knocked. Like a stranger, or a friend, he had knocked on the door to _their_ house. Waited for her to answer _their_ door. Stood on the porch, waited for her to invite him in. To _their_ house. Her heart clenched painfully as she licked her lips.

Once inside, he remained near the door. A tremor started up Emily's spine, shook her to the core. Her teeth were nearly chattering. "Would you...do you want anything? Coffe, tea...Muffin?" She laughed, brokenly, and swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. "Anything?" She sounded pleading, realized she was begging him to understand, to want _her_.

"I just wanted to come and pick up a few things." His voice was soft, gentle. Nothing like the hard Alpha-voice he usually spoke to people in. It wasn't the same as his Emily-voice, either. It was the tone he reserved solely for children and frightened animals, the one that tried to promise that everything would be okay, even if he didn't believe that it would.

She closed her eyes, set a hand against the wall in an effort to ground herself. "Get a few things?" Her mind felt fuzzy, distant. Like someone had shoved cotton in her ears, to drown out the reality of his words.

"I'm sorry. I just need a few days, Emily. I told you I'd be back today, so here I am. I'm just..." He held up the duffel bag Paul had let him borrow. "I'll just be a minute, I promise." He brushed by her, twisted his body so that they didn't touch. She could hear him opening drawers, grabbing clothes. He left their bedroom, went to their bathroom instead. A creak as he opened the medicine cabinet, took his tooth brush out.

When he returned, he set the bag at the door. "I don't know what to think, Emily." He started. "It's a lot to take in. If you need me for anything, anything at _all_, I'll be at Paul's house." He reached out, cupped her cheek lightly. The first time he'd touched her since coming back to their house. "His phone number is speed dial two, you know that, right? I left the money for this weeks groceries in the medicine cabinet, behind the -"

"Bottle of acetaminophin." She whispered, turning her face further towards his palm.

He smiled. A small, sad look that darkened his already sullen face. "We'll work this out. One way or another, we'll work this out." His hand slipped from her face and he stooped down to grab the bag once more. "I'm only a phone call away Emily, and you know any of the Pack will be here for you."

"I know Sam." She opened the door, watched him as he walked out. "I love you." She added, quiet and certain.

"I know Emily. And I love you to." He told her, soft and sure. It was true, he did love her. He just didn't know it what way. He pulled the strap of the bag over one shoulder and started down the road, feeling much like a man on a mission.

Only he didn't know what his mission was, either.

ZZZ

_Wil_.

The man groaned quietly at the cry of his name, staring down at Max as their bodies rocked together. Fuck, was she beautiful. He fisted a hand in her hair, still bright blue, and pulled lightly. She gasped, arched her back off the bed, repeated it. _Wil_.

Only...only her mouth wasn't moving. His movements stuttered, hesitated, then began again. He focused on her lips, on the hiss of _more, more, more,_ that was a chant inside of his head, but not to his ears.

"Max." He keened, giving a particularly harsh thrust. "Max." He was confused, too far gone with arousal to really _care_, yet still wanting to know. "What -" And then she was tightening around him, a high pitched whine rising in her throat as her legs flexed, squeezed. He followed her soon after, giving himself a silent trophy for remembering a condom that time.

It took him several moments to compose himself. "What was that, Max?"

"What was what?" She responded tiredly, stretching lazily against the bed. She burrowed further into the pillow, deeper into his side, and pulled the heavy comforter across them both. "That? That was amazing sex. Why? You were there, right?"

"That's not what I was talking about, although yeah, I was there...and yeah, it was amazing." He propped himself onto his elbows, smirking as she slid across the bed so she was practically underneath him. He outweighed her by quite a bit. "I could have swore I heard you."

"I'm sure a lot of people heard me." She rolled her eyes, then her body, using a leg to keep herself into her own spot. She could sense the twins discomfort, but didn't particularly care.

"No. Your mouth wasn't moving but I could _hear_ you."

"I've heard about that. Couples who get super into each other. Kind of like twin telepathy." She hedged, shifting her glance to the ceiling.

"We aren't exactly _close_, Max. And I can tell when you're lying to me." He gripped her chin, gently, and turned her head towards him. "Just tell me the truth. It'll be a lot less painful." He added. His eyes were serious, as was his expression. He had been lied to too often to really care about pussy footing around. It was best to go straight to the root of a problem.

"It's just something I've always been able to do."

"Project your thoughts?"

She frowned at him. "You sound pretty damn calm about this."

"Well I _know_ it happened. I just want to know _why_."

"Because I can?" It came out as more of a question, than an answer.

"Honey, you're talking to the guy that honestly _believed_ his sons turned into giant wolves in order to protect our people. I believe in ghosts. I get paranoid on Halloween. You _heard_ me tell all the legends. Why are you so surprised that I'd believe in psychics? You just mentioned twin telepathy - I know it happens. I have twins."

"I couldn't just come out and _say_ 'oh by the way, Wil dearest, I can read your mind'!" Her voice was sarcastically cheery, "It's not like...something you talk about over dinner."

"Is it difficult? To read minds?"

She thought about the wolves - how her mind effortlessly blended with theirs. It had been easy since day one. Their families - parents, that was - were considered _Pack_ to them. Getting into Sue, Billy, or even Wil's head took just the slightest bit of concentration. If she wasn't focusing, their strongest thoughts still slipped in.

Old Quil wasn't considered Pack - too far down the line - and 'normal' humans required actual focus.

"It's...easier for some, harder for others. You're still taking this exceptionally well."

Wil chuckled, lowered himself back to the bed after letting Max's chin go. He grinned at the ceiling. "What am I thinking now?"

"Now? You're thinking that the sex makes it easier to take it well." She smacked his chest, sharply. "Pig."

"Yep." He rolled, pulled her into a bear hug. She hated being so fully wrapped up, but didn't struggle against it. "But I'm _your_ pig."

She snorted. "I'm Jewish, I can't eat pig."

"Mm, well then maybe I'm a horse?"

She wiggled away, half way off the bed before she replied. "Nope, not hung well enough!" She cackled, managing to make it fully off before he lunged for her.

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

ZZZ

"You look chipper." Leah dead panned as she kicked a rock. "What happened? Got laid?"

"Yes, actually." Max gave the she wolf a positively _dirty_ grin.

"I really...didn't need to know that." Leah shook her head. "Wil putting out now, eh? Good for you, girl. You sure you want to be tagging along with me then? Not back at home in a nice comfy bed full of man?"

"He's at work and the twins went to Isaac's for the night." She yawned. "Nothing better to do. Plus, it was either you or another bonding moment with Seth, and I can only handle your brother for so long before he starts to get irritating." She added, honestly. "He's just always so..."

"Happy? I know. It's grates on my nerves too." Leah didn't think that they really had much to be happy _for_.

"Are you really sure you want to do this? I did it a few years ago and...never get. I'd rather shave than get waxed any day of the week."

"What? Don't tell me Wil minds a little hair?"

Max laughed, "Oh trust me, he's manly man enough that it wouldn't bug him. It just bugs me. I have my landing strip, that's all I need." She patted her lower abdomen, ignoring the way the people around them were shooting odd looks their way. "What do you need to wax for anyway?"

"Honestly? I turn into a giant hairy beast five nights of the week. I just want to do something girlie for a change. Even before I started shifting, I was a tomboy." Leah lowered her voice to keep passers by from hearing. "I need some me time."

"So you invited me?"

"No fun if I do it alone. You don't want to get your nails done or anything?"

"Oh please. I bite them so bad it'd take a miracle to fix em up." Max held her hand out to examine it. "Yeah it's pretty horrific. I _could_ do with a new pair of pants though. I'm running out."

"There's a thrift store across the parking lot."

"Fuckin' eh. We can head over when you're done getting your junk waxed. That is, if you can walk."

"I get sucker punched by vampires for a living, I think I can handle a little hair removal." Leah rolled her eyes as they finally reached the salon. She had called ahead to book an appointment. "Clearwater, Leah." She told the lady at the desk, leaning against it with her hip. From the corner of her eye she caught a group of teenaged boys watching her. "Ugh, pathetic."

"Not your type?"

"Nope. My type's taller than me, broodier, and has a shorter temper."

"So basically, Paul."

Leah's nostrils flared. "More or less, yeah." She glanced at Max. "Surprised?"

"Not really. You two were friends before all of this, right?" Max followed Leah as the she wolf was lead into a back room, one specifically there for ah, waxing.

Leah wiggled out of her pants, underwear following soon after. Nudity wasn't a problem for someone who spent so much of her time naked. Plus, it was only Max. Max had probably seen her naked a million times in the boys heads. "Yeah, we went to school together. Paul and Sam were always really close, so when Sam and I started dating..."

"Paul was always around. Naturally." Max took a seat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, pursing her lips. "Jared, too, right?"

"Mhm, although he wasn't around as often, he had other friends. He played sports. Paul got kicked off a few teams for fighting, and Sam left when Paul did, so..."

"Ma'am I just need you to lift your leg into this strap..." The petite worker murmured, timidly.

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Leah spread her legs, tossed one into the strap. Her body tightened at the thought of her last, _very_ uncomfortable pap. "Aurgh."

"Just stop thinking about it. It's not the same. This is much worse."

"I doubt it." Leah settled her head into the hard cushion. "Like I said..."

"Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your first waxing. You're getting it _all_ removed?"

The worker hesitated at that, looked at Leah. "Are you?"

"All of it. Gone."

"Your legs are already done..." The lady stroked one. "You shaved?"

"Naired."

"Aaaaah." She hated Nair products. The worker put the wax on Leah's thighs, then higher up. "This might hurt." She warned, pressing the paper like material over it.

"I'm sure I can _oh my __**God**__ wh-y-y-y-y-y would you __**do**__ that?_" The she wolf shrieked, barely managing not to lash out at the employee.

"We warned you!" The woman laughed, taking pleasure in Max's devious cackles.

"Okay stop, stop."

"You're going to stop with a strip taken off your hoohah? The boys are gonna get a kick out of the that!" Max piped up, between laughs.

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Do it. Just do it."

ZZZ

"That. Was the most painful thing. Ever." Leah shuddered. She was walking similar to a penguin, out to the car she had stolen from Jacob.

"What? Shopping or getting your hair brutally ripped out by a sadist?"

"Both. I never took you for a shopper."

"Hey, I need to find clothes that are going to _last_."

"At a thrift store?" Leah raised an eyebrow dubiously as she started the car...then started it again. And again. "It won't turn on, are you fucking _kidding_ me?" She screamed, beat the steering wheel, then screamed some more. "This day. Just. This. Day."

"I guess we're either hoofing it or calling Jared to come get us." Max muttered.

"What? You're _seriously_ telling me that you don't know anything about cars? You? Who taught a six year old how to make and use a flamethrower? Max?"

"What? I always hitch hike, walk, or take Greyhound busses. Sue me."

"This is Jake's fault for being so up the Cullen's ass. He hasn't been paying attention to his baby." Leah sighed and patter the steering wheel. "Goodbye old girl. Come on. We're hoofing it."

Max _really_ wasn't looking forward to that walk.

Luckily for her - neither was Leah.

Max didn't make a habit out of riding wolf-back, but it was...well, it was exhilerating. Leah was the fastest wolf of her Pack, and it was the fastest Max had ever gone. She felt silly, a grown woman sitting on a giant wolf, but it was neat. The wind wipped her hair, and the world flashed by faster than she could keep up with.

She felt alive, and, if Leah's thoughts were any indication, the she-wolf did too.


	16. Chapter 16

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Sixteen**

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Leah paused in the doorway, eyes scanning the room. She didn't know how she hadn't smelt Sam before she entered the house – inside, it reeked of him. She could see a pair of his dirty sock lying on the floor. _Ugh, men._

"Long story." He said simply, huddling further into the couch. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"It's Wednesday. I'm always here on Wednesday, Paul and I have a movie night." She set her hands on her hips, brow furrowed as she glared at the old Alpha. "Really, Sam. What are you doing here?"

"He told you it's a long story."

She tensed as Paul walked up behind her, her packmate's breath on her neck. "Don't be pushy."

"Pushy is Leah's middle name." Sam chipped in from his spot on the couch. He grinned when the girl sent him another dark look. "Isn't that right Lee?"

"I hate you. _Both_ of you." She added, when Sam opened his mouth indignantly. His jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

"Well, so long as it's both of us." He smiled contentedly.

She didn't push it any further.

"It's your turn to pick the movie, Leah." Paul walked around her, making a bee line for the couch. He settled on the side furthest from Sam and, mentally, Leah swore. They had left the middle seat for her.

To show them that she wasn't amused, nor happy, she picked the sappiest movie she could find on Paul's shelf – and then sat on the floor. When that proved to be an uncomfortable position, she stretched out on her stomach instead, stealing a pillow from the couch to cushion her head.

Sam huffed out a tired laugh, stretching a leg out so his foot could brush against Leah's side. "We're all friends here Leah, nothing's going on." He soothed.

"Like hell."

The next few hours were spent watching films – after fifteen minutes, Leah had turned off the sappy romance, grimacing in distaste, even as the men watched attentively – and mercilessly mocking Paul on his recent download of the latest Pony episode.

"It's for Sarah and Marie!" Had been his only argument. Leah knew it was true, but it was still fun to tease Paul about having a show that was designed for small girls. He had always been a 'manly man'. Who new children could bring out the soft side of even such a volatile wolf?

"It's getting late." She glanced at the clock, taking in the time. Three in the morning. "I should head back to the house, and don't _either_ of you offer to walk me home." She jabbed a finger accusingly in their direction as she headed to the door. "I can take care of myself."

"Oh please we haven't done that since we were like, thirteen." Paul rolled his eyes and followed, opening the front door the shewolf. "Just promise me you'll get home safe."

"Make me." She stuck her tongue out at him, growling when he tried to grabby it with orange stained fingers – he had eaten three bags of crunchy cheesies, by himself. "I promise." She added when she was halfway down the front walk.

Paul watched her disappear before returning to the living room. "I'm going to bed, man." He clapped Sam on the shoulder before retreating to his room.

The two wolves fell into a peaceful sleep, free from patrolling duties and imprints. In the morning, they were awoken by the shrill ringing of Paul's house phone – which was almost never used.

ZZZ

"It isn't any concern of yours, what I do." Sam snarled, lips curling back from his teeth. He glared at Old Quil, and Billy. "You have _no_ say in what I do!"

"You have a duty, _boy_." The old man snapped back, hands folding together before him on the table. "That duty is to your imprint, your soul mate. Your _other half_." His voice was raspier than usual, frail chest rising and falling with his angry breathing. Sam could hear a wheeze, deep in the man's lungs. He didn't particularly care.

"Sir, my duty is to my people and to my Pack." Sam could feel his friend tensing beside him. When he had been summoned to the Alpha's house, Paul hadn't said a word. He had simply shoved his shoes on and followed Sam out the door. Sam had been irritated at first, but now it felt good to know at least one other wolf would back his decision.

He had no idea how any of the others would react.

"And your imprint is Pack, Sam." Billy tried to keep his voice gentle, but it was hard. He was furious at the old Alpha for daring to break tradition. "We are Pack."

"No. You aren't Pack – you don't know what being Pack is." It was Paul who was speaking, although he remained behind Sam, a sign of respect for the other wolf. "Unfortunately neither of you were good enough to phase." His words dripped with sarcasm. "We were. You're not wolves. You're two old men with nothing better to do than make our lives difficult. This is hard enough on us already, without you trying to dictate what we do."

"You're not an imprinted wolf yet, Paul." Billy's voice _was_ soothing then. He wasn't angry at Paul, no. Only Sam. Paul was only being a good wolf, letting his brother house with him. "You just don't understand."

"Billy. You're not a wolf _or_ imprinted, so what the fuck do _you_ understand?"

"Hey, you know. Just a suggestion, but – don't talk to my father that way." Jacob shifted in his corner of the small kitchen, leveling Paul with a glare. If looks could kill. Paul returned the glare, refusing to bow down to even his Alpha. Anger made Paul a strong wolf. A very strong, very dangerous wolf.

"It's all right Jacob. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"If this is a Pack matter, why isn't the rest of the Pack here?" Sam interrupted, cutting off any harsh words Paul was about to spew. He didn't want a Pack-fight to start, least of all over him.

Old Quil ground his teeth at that one "We have the most dominant wolves here to discuss the matter."

"You didn't ask Paul to come, and Leah's almost tied for rank. Not to mention Seth is the Beta." Sam pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. It was a defensive position, rather than offensive. It caused Jacob to once more relax into his corner.

"We didn't think it was a matter that needed to be discussed outside of those who already knew…" Old Quil was scrambling for words.

His words only aggravated Sam further. Who the hell was Emily, to go behind his back calling the council? After all he'd done for her, he asked for a bit of time alone and she pulls _this_. He clenched his jaw. "This isn't any of your concern regardless. I don't know what Emily told you, but I need some time to think things through. Alight?"

"Not alright. Sam, you have left your imprint weak. You have left her vulnerable. That goes against Pack rules and Pack policy." Old Quil unfolded his hands, tapped his fingers on the table "Billy, Jacob and I have talked extensively on what needs to be done. We will leave it to your Alpha to guide you." He leaned back in his chair, a strange look in his heavy-lidded eyes.

"Sam, after a lot of thought and consideration, we have decided that leaving Emily is not in your best interest, or hers. It kills me to have to do this." Jacobs slouched shoulders, shifting gaze spoke of how much it hurt him. The Alpha wasn't looking forward to what he would have to say next. "Sam, I'm ordering you to return to your house with Emily. She's a weak link right now and she has to be protected. You're the wolf designed for her. This is an Alpha order, Sam. It's temporary, but it _is_ an order."

Sam took once glance at Paul's shocked face before he turned on his heels and stalked out of the house.

"You can't do this." Paul hissed. "This isn't right. Imprinting is already all messed up, you can't go throwing your Alpha orders around to make your _daddy_ happy! Who the hell do you-"

"He _knows_ he's the Alpha, Paul. A position that Sam gladly stepped down from. If you'll excuse us, we have business to discuss. You know where the door is." Old Quil stood from his seat, hobbled to the stove to turn the kettle on. He felt like having a cup of tea.

"You won't get away with this, Jacob."

The Alpha sighed, weary and tired. "What are you going to do about it Paul?"

Paul didn't answer; instead, he turned on his heel and walked out the door. Promptly, he made his way to one Wilbur Black's house.

It was Joseph who answered the door. "What do you want?" The pup mock-growled, face lit up with excitement. It faded when he saw the hard set of Paul's jaw. "Paul? What do you need?"

"I need to talk to Max, now. It's an emergency. Wolf if danger. _Now_ Joseph." Thankfully, the pup didn't need to be told twice.

ZZZ

God, Jacob hoped Paul would be smart enough to go to Max.

**AN: So, a bit of a slow chapter. I promise things will get more exciting soon. There's some home stuff going on at the moment, so I can't say when I'll update. Hopefully a new chapter will be up…soon. This is the shortest chapter GP has ever had, and yet another transition chapter. I know, I know, they're not fun. But we need them.**

**For anyone who would wish to get inside scoops on Growing Pains, as well as updates, please check out this website http : / / thewordgarden. freeforums. Org /index. Php minus the spaces. GP has a page there, in the Twilight section. I'll be using that space for spoilers – which will have warnings – as well as update info, character bios, etc. If you have any questions about GP, would like to get to know a character better, have a suggestion…post it there! The forum is run by SL and Essa, both of whom are lovely ladies. Enjoy!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Seventeen**

"Auntie Alice?" Nessie's sweet, gentle voice carried lightly across the living room. Her pretty eyes focused on her aunt, cheeks flushed lightly. She had just returned from a run with her mom and dad. She could feel her father standing behind her, peering past her at Alice. She felt his hand curl over her shoulder, trying very hard to not squeeze too tightly. "What's wrong?" She asked her question regardless of her fathers worry.

Alice, not thinking, turned to stare at the small portion of her family standing in the doorway. Her eyes were dull, flat. Distant. As quiet as a vampire could, she breathed out. "Something's coming."

The hand on Nessie's shoulder was suddenly gone, and she felt her heart clench in fear.

She hoped Jacob would be okay.

ZZZ

"What the hell did you do?" Max folded her arms over her chest, meeting the Alpha's eyes unflinchingly. "Jake?"

"What I had to do. They were threatening to cut off his 'funds'. If I hadn't have made him go back, he wouldn't have had anything left. Emily would have lost the house, Sam wouldn't have been able to feed himself or her." The Alpha sighed heavily.

"How did -"

"Max, I block my thoughts from an entire pack of wolves. It's not difficult for me anymore - plus, you weren't exactly browsing my mind, were you?" He raised an eyebrow. "If I don't want anyone to know, I just...don't think about it."

"So that's why you were thinking about Nessie?" Max's voice held an accusing tone.

Jacob flinched. "You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly well, actually." Her voice softened, although just the slightest. "I'm not going to get into that with you, not right now." She relaxed against the wall. Jacob had met her behind Wilbur's house. In the dead of night, they were invisible. "You're really not trying to be a bad guy, huh?"

"No. I'm trying to do what's right. Just..."

"Your right isn't always everyone elses right." She nodded.

"I have to do what's best for my Pack, Max. I can't let the feelings of one wolf, even myself, get in the way of that."

"I understand that, too. It doesn't change anything though, Jake. You're losing faith. Sam and Paul will follow you still because they have to. Not because they want to. I don't know what everyone else is going to think about this when it gets out. Marie and Sarah have already stated intense dislike for Emily. Mind you, they never put two and two together, but..." She trailed off.

"Max, if you weren't here I never would have done that."

"What do you mean?"

"I never would have made Sam go back. It's not the right thing to do. Not for the Pack. It was just...easier to agree to my dad and Old Quil." He glanced at her, sharply. "I know you don't need my permission, but I'd like for you to break that order."

"I will."

"When?"

"As soon as Sam settles in with Emily."

Jacob gave her a questioning look.

"Look, Jake. She went behind _everyone_'s backs to get Sam in shit. That doesn't say 'love' to me. That says selfish. Are the wolves supposed to be what the imprint wants? Yes. But love goes both ways, and that...that's not love. It's an obsession."

"You want her to hurt." Jacob decided. It wasn't a question, just a statement. His eyes searched Max's face as his lips pulled into a soft frown. "You know I can't condone that, right?"

"You can't condone it, but you also can't do anything about it. My mind is made up, Jake. They're _my_ Pack too, now. I'm not going to let anyone hurt them for no reason, least of all an imprint."

"Imprints _are_ Pack, Max."

"No. They're humans with connections. Nothing more, nothing less. I've never even _heard_ of imprinting before. It can't be that important if the majority of wolves don't do it." She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Let's agree to disagree. This is my tribe, and this is the way my people do it. I'm not asking you to like it, but you have to try and understand it. You're one of us now, and we can't just change years of tradition because it doesn't sit right with you." He shook his head.

Max opened her mouth, retort on the tip of her tongue, when the back door opened. She swore instead, grabbing Jacob's hand. She pulled him down with her, and they flattened themselves to the - for once - dry dirt behind the house. Thankfully, Wil wasn't much of a gardener and the hedges his mother had planted, years ago, were over grown. They provided a fairly good covering.

They could hear a soft yawn, and the sound of someone scratching their belly "So we're meetin' up with Collin first?" That was Joseph, voice hardly a whisper. Max knew the pups had been asleep - they must have set an alarm or something.

She swore again, mentally this time. She should have noticed they were awake. Hell, Jacob should have noticed they were awake. She let her mind brush the Alpha's gently, _what do you want to do?_

_Let them go. No problem letting the younger kids bond._ Jacob's thoughts had a fond tint to it, and Max nodded. Jacob had fully thrown himself into the Pack Bonding idea, and if the puppies wanted to play together, he was content to sit back and enjoy the fact that alone, the kids could be kids.

"Yeah, Brady and Isaac live close to each other. They said they'll make a run to grab Sarah and Marie, James has a big test tomorrow so he's not coming with us. Needs his sleep."

"Mm. 'Kay." Joseph yawned once more, voice still laced with the tell tale signs of sleep. "Let's get to it then." He somehow managed to put a little bit of cheer into voice as he hopped off the deck, landing near-silent on the ground.

Max wondered how in the hell the pups didn't _smell_ them. A stray thought brush against her mind. David. She rolled her eyes, slightly amused. _They know we're here._

_Of course they do_ Jacob replied easily. He was grinning at her in the dark, eyes dancing with laughter _I trained them well._

_Keep dreamin', Black._

The door opened for a second time, as the children finally crossed the street. Max narrowed her eyes, trying to see just exactly what Wil was up to. She caught sight of his feet, first. He was wearing shoes, and long pants. Not boxers. So he had been awake for a while then - if she recalled correctly, he had worked a double shift. He should have been in bed, sleeping.

"Fuckin' kids." He muttered, sounding aggrivated. Her and Jake both knew his irritation came from love and his tendency to be over protective. "Dammit." He sighed through his nose, and they both heard the sound of a zipper going up.

Seconds later he was walking down the steps, feet heavy. Max hadn't realized how light footed the wolves were, but now, compared to her lover, she knew Jake _had_ trained them fairly well.

_Think Joseph and David will catch on that they're being followed?_ Max asked silently, peering under the bushes so she could watch Wil trot after his sons trying - and failing - to be quiet as he did so.

_Yeah, they'll know. Or if they miss it, Collin'll know. Hopefully they're smart enough to avoid going to the other pups. I can't imagine seeing a group of kids in the woods at night will go over with Wil. I mean, Sarah's only six. He might freak._

"He might freak anyway." She was speaking out loud again, now that Wil and the boys were out of hearing range. "On the kids, I mean. I know he's expecting to catch them doing something horrible, but following them around the woods in the dead of night is going to piss him off. He's tired."

"Let him get angry." Jacob stood slowly, glancing around to make sure no one else was wandering in the night. With the coast clear, he pulled himself onto the deck and slid into Wil's house via the back door.

"Make yourself at home." Max muttered dryly, following close behind the Alpha. "You're lucky he doesn't have a nose like yours. I probably stink like you."

"You stink like all of us, but trust me. His scents all over you. It's why Brady's stopped moon-eyeing you." Jacob was grinning _again_, helping himself to a glass of water.

Ah. Nearly getting caught had surprisingly lowered the tension between them.

"What do you mean moon eyeing at me?" Max hadn't been aware that the sulky pup even spared her a second glance.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard him. I think it's a school boy crush, but the first time you and Wil had sex and you showed up to a meeting _without_ showering," He gave her a pointed look, nose wrinkling in disgust "Well, that trampled poor little Brady's heart."

"Awh. You'll have to tell him I'm sorry, but he's just too damn young." She shrugged, uncaring, and hopped up to sit on the counter. "I'm no cougar."

"Nope, just a wolf girl." Jacob reached forward, tweaked her nose. Pulled his arm back quickly, before she could snap at him.

She was contemplating grabbing her flame thrower from behind the stove when his phone began to ring. Once more, Max was grateful they were in an empty house. She'd have to lecture Jacob on the silent and vibrate mods of cellular devices after. "Who is it?" She asked, assuming 'wolfy business' had come up.

"One of our vamps." Jacob's happy smiles were gone. In their place was a look Max had never seen before. _This_ was the Alpha that they all thought Jacob could be. His eyes were hard, face relaxing into an almost expressionless mask. "I have to take this." He didn't bother leaving the room for privacy. Max would probably be scanning his mind anyway. Privacy was, he knew, a thing of the past.

Max blocked the rest of the wolves from her mind, zeroing in on Jacob Black.

She watched as he flipped the phone open, pressing it to his ear. "What is it Edward?"

ZZZ

"Is that your dad?" Collin asked, amused as he peered over the Twinpup's shoulder, ears picking up low swearing.

"Yep." Joseph drawled, more awake since they'd begun their walk "That's him alright. I don't think he mean to follow us, he just happened to be awake."

"So what do we do now?" Collin's brain jumped forward, thought of the youngest pups sitting somewhere in the woods. His stomach cringed at the thought of Marie and Sarah alone, but he remembered that they had both Isaac and Brady with them. They'd be okay for a while, still.

"I guess we walk him in circles. If we have to, we'll go home so you can catch the end of our meeting." David replied easily, glancing over his shoulder. His dad was fairly far behind them, but he could still make him out in the dark.

"Yeah?" Collin mulled it over, then nodded "Good plan. Best to not leave him out here by himself, at least if he's following us he won't get lost."

"Yep." Joseph drawled again, pushing his body to move forward. "He's exhausted, I imagine he'll start lagging in an hour, tops. Did a double shift today."

"He's a good man." Collin said.

"He's the best." David replied shortly, giving Collin a half glare. The slightly older wolf smirked, amused. The twins had definitely inherited their protective streak from their dad. It was cute.

"Sure, sure."

Both pups rolled their eyes at Collin's mocking of their Alpha.

They heard a thud behind them, and David bit back a snicker "Awh man, he tripped on that snaggle root didn't he?" He had almost done the same thing, although his wolf eyes had caught it before he could trip. "Poor dad." The giggles finally escaped him, and he caught his father snarling angrily.

Joseph punched his brother in the shoulder "Hey man lay off, he's old." He whispered, knowing his dad couldn't hear them talking. They were too far away.

"You two are horrible." Collin decided, pulling them each into a head lock. One on either side, squished beneath his arms. He flexed a few times, calling how "Whose the man? Collin is the man!" Even as they trudged onwards, Wil being left behind.

They struggled against him half heartedly, knowing that together they could easily over power Collin. Or at the very least, hoping that together, they were strong enough. He eventually let them go, eyes narrowing as his head jerked sharply to the side.

"Wh-"

"Shh." Collin stepped forward, gesturing for the twins to get back. "That log a few feet behind us." He was whispering, quiet enough that they could hardly hear him. "Get behind it. Now."

He was practically a puppy himself - he was only thirteen - but he had been phasing for a while, and he _was_ older. There was something snuffling around in the bushes, something that smelled _off_, and as the older wolf, it was his duty to protect. Not only the people of the rez, but the younger wolves. It wasn't an Alpha order, but it was an order, one that he would follow no matter what.

Collin was more dominant than the Twinpup, and they knew when to follow an order. Without thinking they slunk away, never turning their backs on Collin, or the threat he apparently heard. Joseph hit the log first, knees nearly giving out as it came in contact with the backs of them. Still he refused to turn, half stumbling as he tries to crawl backwards over the rotting trunk. His twin followed soon after.

Whatever it was, it was getting closer. They could smell it, hear it, finally. They didn't know how they had missed it, and chalked it up to Collin being just that little bit more experienced than they were.

God, did it smell. Vampires always carried a sickly sweet smell, but this thing filled their noses with the scent of death. It didn't draw them in, didn't intrigue. The three pups fought the bile that began to rise in their throats.

Rotting flesh. It was the only way they could describe it, and none of them even _knew_ what rotting flesh smelt like. It was pungent, full of decay. Joseph got the sharp mental image of maggots. He gagged, ducking down further behind the log.

And then suddenly, they could see it.

Its skin was red. Not like theirs, but the same kind of red that reduced Sarah to tears. The color of her precious crayons, the ones she couldn't use anymore, not without breaking. It looked as though it had no eye lids, owl-wide eyes staring directly at Collin, although appearing unseeing. They were completely grey, glazed over.

It looked like a human. At least, in body. It had two arms, and two legs. Two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth - a mouth that was stretched oddly large, grotesque looking. It parted its thin lips, revealing a row of teeth that looked like nails, sharp and uneven. It wasn't the clean, well placed fangs a vampire carried.

It looked like a shark had had a fling with a lost scuba diver.

All at once, the stillness that had settled over the trio plus weirdo was shattered. The creature had lunged, catching Collin around the middle. From its throat came a shrieking noise, like nails on a chalkboard, before those fucking _teeth_ curled into Collin's chest.

They slid down, sliding him from nipple to stomach as the wolf struggled to toss it off.

It wasn't particularly large, but it was fucking _strong_.

The twins were frozen to their spot as the - hell, what could they call it? The Thing? - as the Thing was tossed heavily into a tree. For something so human in shape, it didn't break like one. It was coming at Collin again, faster than they could blink.

The wolf squealed in pain as he was bit again and then...then he was shifting. They could see the telltale ripple before Collin exploded, fur ripping itself from his insides, bones cracking so they could rearrange. David couldn't deny that watching the other wolves phase was stunning.

Watching them fight, however, was terrifying.

Collin threw himself at the Thing as hard as he could, landing teeth first in its arm. He tried to rip, stifling a whine in his throat when one of the Things sharply-clawed hands sank into his stomach. _Huh, well at least David knows what it looks like now_, he thought as the pain rippled over his body. Teeth closed over his leg, shockingly strong. He felt the bone snap, like one of the twigs he took pleasure in stomping on.

The teeth went for his throat, next. The pups were still terrified, still hiding. _Good_ he thought, twisting just enough that they closed over his shoulder. He keened in pain, pushed his weight forward. The Thing stumbled, nearly going down as Collin settled over it, tried to grab it once more with his own teeth.

He failed and the hand in his gut sliced downwards, reaching eagerly for his intenstines.

"Hey!"

That was David screaming, and Collin was dimly aware that he was falling. He landed on his side, on his bad leg. Couldn't get his paws beneath him, even as the Thing turned to the pups, no longer interested in the broken wolf at its feet.

It took three steps before David realized his mistake and began backing away. Joseph had stood as well, clutching his brothers arm with a white knuckled grip. Collin prayed they were smart enough to shift, to become wolf. They were faster that way. They could get away. _Please let them get away_, he begged.

He tried for a third time, to get his paws beneath his body. He made it halfway up before he collapsed, giant head twisting to stare at his stomach and _oh, so that's what those look like_. His body heaved even as his stomach tried healing, hanging innards be damned. Gutted like a fucking pig. _What a way to go_, he thought, taking as deep of a breath as he could.

As his vision began to blur, the wolf bleeding out on the forest floor threw his head back and howled, for all he was worth. The sound echoed off the trees, carried in the nighttime air. Halfway through his call for help, Collin's world went black and his head fell once more, to lay nestled on a shattered leg. He couldn't feel anything, not anymore.

ZZZ

Wil grunted in discomfort as a rock cut the bottom of his foot. Man, were his boys going to get it when he finally caught up to them. He knew they knew he had been following behind him, but the brats had still wandered too far ahead. He had no idea where they were, and he couldn't see two feet in front of his face, with how dark the woods were. An uneasy feeling crept along his spine, but he shook it off. He had never been afraid of the dark, not even as a child, and like hell he was going to start getting spooked by the night.

The howl, broken and pain filled, was what spurred him into motion. He was running then, faster than he ever had, towards a noise most people would run _away_ from. He nearly tripped again - on a fallen branch this time, not a root - but somehow managed to catch his balanced and _there_. He could see Joseph, he could see David, and off to the side, a wolf and _holy fuck that was a big wolf_ and something else, something...

He wondered if it was Jacob Black slinking towards his children, hunched over. It was damn near tall enough to be him. He felt anger rise in his gut, narrowed his eyes as he slowed from a run into a fast paced walk. "God dammit. I don't know who you think you are but -" A stray beam of moonlight slid over the thing and oh. No. No no no. That was not Jacob Black.

Joseph, his son his _baby_ was spinning then, facing him with wide, terrified eyes. "Dad!" He sounded panicked, voice painfully loud. "Dad, run!" His voice was cut off as he was grabbed and flailing, he disapeared over the log.

Wilbur Black finally snapped.

ZZZ

David shrieked in horror as Joseph was pulled away from him, as they lost their grip on each other. His body began to shake, his image began to blur. He spared Collin one final glance before closing his eyes, preparing himself for the change that was about to take over his body, and then -

And then there was another wolf. Another wolf, leaping from where his father had just stood. He listened, heart squeezing painfully in his chest as the wolf squealed in pain. It sounded like a beaten puppy, as the wolves body hunched and trembled with pain. Still, it never stopped.

He watched as it grabbed the Thing, ripped it away from his brother. The wolf was furious, screaming and howling and yipping. It had the Thing by an arm, shaking its head wildly back and forth. The Thing smashed into a tree, once, twice, three times. The new wolf wasn't giving it a second to think, tossing it about like a chew toy. Eventually, the Thing was dropped to the ground, a heavy paw attempting to crush its chest as Wilbur's teeth curved over its head and began to _rip_.

Joseph was scrambling away, unharmed, watching his father with wide, terrified eyes.

And then, suddenly, there were wolves everywhere. They poured from the trees, one after the other, coming from all sides. Small wolves with over sized paws, large wolves with vicious snarls, and one wolf who had been the largest until today, russet fur glinting, a small human balanced easily on his back.

_Max_, Joseph thought, staring wide eyed at their Vargamor, his fathers girlfriend. The woman was screaming orders, telling them to hold the Thing down. He caught the word Wendigo through the fog that had taken over his brain. Realized he was shaking harder than David, teeth chattering and knees knocking as his father refused to listen.

He wondered if not even Max's voice could break through his dads rage.

It took both Paul and Sam to drag Wil away, and as they tried, he turned his teeth on them. He shredded Paul's ear, dragged Sam a good three feet by his tail, before twisting back to the Thing - the Wendigo, they knew now - in an attempt to yet again sink his teeth into it.

Paul was on Wil's back then, front paws trying to box him in as he grabbed the older man by the back of the neck, trying to wrestle him down. It wasn't graceful, and it was _loud_, but it gave Leah, Seth and Jacob enough time to distract the Wendigo. It gave Max enough time to set it on fire.

Joseph listened to the sound of the Wendigo wailing as it burned, teeth gnashing at the air. The sound mixed with the howls of his father, the snarls from Paul, and the annoyed murmur of Sam, who was nursing his tail.

The sound that stood out the most, though, was the sound of David letting out a sob as he finally collapsed, crawling to Collin, "Dad he's not breathing. Dad." And like the young boy he was, David began to wail for his father.

Paul didn't stand a chance.

ZZZ

_David, David, David_ it was a chant in all the wolves' heads, in Max's head, as Wil's panic gave him the strength to break from Paul. He was standing over his son suddenly, eyes wild, mind crazy. Jacob was trying his best to pull Wil back in, but _damn_ was it ever hard.

The manwolves paws were slick with blood as his trembling body tried to figure out how to hold his son, how to comfort. He knew, too, that Collin was just a child. The panic that slammed into them with the thought of _nononono not him, no_ was enough to make Leah stagger, make her lean into Jacob for support.

Wil was collapsing then, moving just the slightest so he didn't crush his son on his fall. He had no arms to hug, to hold, so he curled around the limp wolf and his boy instead, teeth finding the back of Collin's neck and nudging at him as gentle as a terrified wolf could. His whole body was trembling, sides heaving as he nuzzled, and whined, and nuzzled, and whined.

Max blinked the tears out of her eyes, forced herself to focus. "We might still have time. Your vamps are on their way, now." When the howl had sounded, the Coven and Pack had both pushed themselves into motion.

She watched Wil, felt his pain. His body was still aching, and as the panic was seeping out of him, a deep ache was replacing it. She could see Joseph moving from the corner of her eye, and then _she _was afraid. Afraid that in this state, Wil would hurt his son. "Joseph -" she started, then fell silent as a vicious snarl was directed her way.

It hadn't clicked in Wil's head that Max was there. That she was with the wolves.

She swallowed her discomfort as Joseph climbed onto his dad, over him. Slipped in Collin's blood and went down hard, before being grabbed by his twin, pulled in close. The twins were pressed between Collin's back and Wilbur's side as the man tried deserately to keep guard over his three precious bundles.

He was still trying to nudge Collin awake when the Coven arrived.

The new smell screamed at his instincts, and Max pushed her personal feelings aside. She focused, hard, on Wil. His eyes rolled wildly in his head before settling on her, half crazed as his paws pushed him into a standing position, backed him away.

"That you?" Jake asked her, human again. He was naked, crouched near Collin and the twins, eyes full of pain.

"It's me. I've got him." She took in a shuddery breath, shook her head. Damn. Wil was making keening, whining noises in his throat, body heaving as he struggled to fight against her control. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have had a chance.

These weren't normal circumstance, though. She only managed to hold onto him long enough for Emmett and Paul to carefully lift Collin onto a tarp, a make shift stretcher. Long enough for Paul and Seth to disapear with the Coven, fade into the dark with Collin craddled between them. Long enough for Collin to cease to exist in her mind, for the little spot reserved solely for him to go away.

That was when the pain became too much, that was when she released Wil. By then Jacob had shifted back, and when Max fell, mentally, he caught her. Picked up where she had been forced to leave off. Took the control out of her hands.

She was grateful for it.

ZZZ

_Shift out_ Jacob ordered his coherent Pack _Make sure Joseph and David are okay. I've got Wil, he's fine. I've got him_ He didn't know who he was reassuring. Wil, the rest of the Pack, or himself. He knew Max was still tuned into his thoughts, but knew that most of her attention was with Paul and Seth. With Edward.

He waited impatiently for everyone to become human, staring Wil straight in the eye. The other wolf was a bit larger than him, had a broader chest. His fur was a mix of color, as if his body couldn't decide on one pattern. Red wolf, timbre, even a bit of artic and grey tossed in. He looked like someone had dumped several cans of wolf colored paints onto him. He was impressive, striking.

His panic had faded into not so silent fury.

_You need to calm down_, Jacob ordered, putting a bit of Alpha weight behind his words. _Now. You're going to hurt your sons._

_They're not standing near me_ Wil reasoned. He wasn't used to speaking through the mind, and garbled dog noises slid from his throat as his body triedto speak like it usually did. _But I'm going to hurt you._ It was the only warning Jacob had, before Wil attacked and,

_Damn you're strong_. Jacob thought as he went flying, slapping a paw into Wil's face so the man couldn't bite him. He hadn't expected that level of strength from someone newly phased, not mentally or physically.

_Having kids does that to you, _Wil replied dryly, finally catching Jacob in the side with his sharp teeth. _I don't care that you're a boy. _He growled, the sound carrying to all the other wolves, who stood helplessly off to the side. _I'm going to hurt you, like you hurt my boys. Like you hurt that Collin boy. This is your fault, Jacob_.

"It's not anyone's fault, Wil." Max admonished softly, shaking her head.

The beast of a wolf spun on her, teeth showing. Leah's heart leapt to her throat, the image of Emily's face flashing in her mind.

She'd never seen a newly phased wolf with that much control. He was close to Max, breathing in her face, teeth still bared yet...he hadn't hurt her. He was watching her, eyes angry but not crazed like they had been before and then...

Suddenly, they were full of hurt and Wil was backing away, fast enough that his rear end bumped his Alpha's side. He spun again, to stare at Jake, before turning once more to face Max. _No_.

"I'm sorry." She took a deep, calming breath. "Wil, I'm sorry." She tried to meet his gaze, cringed when he refused to look her in the eye.

A motion off to the side caught his attention. The oldest shifters watched as Wil slowly turned his head to the gaggle of children that had gathered, his sons in the middle. The only ones missing were James and...Collin. The big wolf's ears lowered at the scent of fear, the way the two little girls beside his sons were watching him with scared eyes.

The urge to protect welled up in his chest, powerful enough that it made Jake's throat tighten with its intensity. Wil decided where he needed to be, then. He lowered his head and stalked towards the group, nose brushing Edmund's leg, then Isaac's shoulder, before finally snuffing into Marie's hair.

_Checking them over_, Jacob realized.

Wil turned his back on Max, on his Alpha, and he nudged. He nudged until the children began to walk, because he may have been a wolf, and he may have been a man, but a father was what he wanted to be, and these children had no place standing in a pool of blood.

Jacob gave him two hours before both he and Max ordered Wil to phase human and return home. Despite being so far away, his cry of pain as adult bones snapped back into place carried on the wind.

Max followed the Alpha home, knowing that sound would haunt her for the rest of her life.


	18. Chapter 18

**Growing Pains**

**Chapter Eighteen**

Wil hadn't spoken to any of them, aside from a five minute conversation with Jacob to establish his patrol schedule. When he wasn't working, he was running himself into the ground, trying to find...threats. He figured the Cullen Coven was an entire group of threats, but the Alpha order to _never_ touch them had been reinforced by a silent order from Max.

He hadn't spoken to any of them, aside from the conversation with Jacob and one sentence from Max - "You will _not_ tell _anyone_." She had looked pained as she said it, but he hadn't cared, and, a few hours later, he had tried to tell Esta.

His words had caught in his throat, almost smothered him, and he had realized that Max could do more than read minds. He had taken his questions to his sons, who had answered him honestly, now that they could. He had learned of Vargamors, of imprinting, had learned that he'd been right since day one.

He was told of a war his sons had almost had to fight in, had only barely managed to hold back his rage. Jacob had been putting his sons in danger since the first day they phased. He realized, too, that his sons had really _not_ been able to tell him. In the silence of his own mind, he was grateful he had phased that day.

If he hadn't, both his boys could have been killed. As it were, he had figured out he'd been ripping into the Wendigo for an entire fifteen minutes before the rest of the Pack had arrived. If he hadn't, he'd still be in the dark.

He pulled himself from his thoughts as Esta tapped his shoulder. "Wil?" Her voice was but a whisper, weak sounding to them both.

They were standing with a group that was made out of almost all of their community. Everyone was dressed in black, heads bowed low as Collin's mother sobbed brokenly against her husbands chest.

"Yeah?" He managed to croak out, his own eyes swollen and sore from the crying he had done at home. He owed Collin his boys lives and now...

Esta didn't say anything else, choosing instead to let her body speak for her. She gripped Wil's hand tightly in her own frail one, squeezing it. Telling him that she was there for him, if he needed her. He flashed her a small, grateful smile, even as his free hand brushed both of his sons heads.

They listened to the ceremony, listened to the council talk about what a great boy Collin had been. Wil closed his eyes, once more fought back his anger. He clutched Esta's hand hard enough to hurt her, but the birdlike woman didn't make a noise.

He opened his eyes once more to watch the coffin being lowered into the ground. When the people began to disperse, he made his way to Collin's mother. Tried to speak, couldn't find the words he wanted, and pulled the woman he'd never spoken to into a tight hug, craddling her crying face against his chest.

She was shocked by it, but said nothing, clinging back at him before her husband gently pulled her away, weary and crying himself. Wil gave the man a nod then turned to walk away, glancing around the people who had lingered.

Every member of the Pack was there. He met Jacob's eyes and knew then, in that second, that he would _never_ forgive these people for what they'd done.

He froze halfway to the truck, a mournful howl drifting from the woods and into the cemetary. It was an echo of a lost boy, a lost wolf, someone who had faded to become nothing more than a ghost.

Wilbur managed to wait until he got into the truck to cry.

ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ

**AN: This is it folks. The bitter end. This was an incredibly short chapter, but there will be an actual Epilogue to follow. I hope you've enjoyed Growing Pains, and will stay with me as I head into the second installment of this little series. Thank you all for reading, for reviewing, and just generally being awesome.**

**A very special thanks to StealthLiberal who has given me endless inspiration and support.**

**The Epilogue will be posted sometime soon. I wanted to post 17 and 18 right after the other. I know this chapter was very, very short, but...I feel like there wasn't much else to be said about this part. Not yet.**

**So, Book One has come to an end.**


	19. Chapter 19

Epilogue

She rocked slowly, eyes focused on the flames dancing in the hearth. As she inhaled, she could hear the rasp her own chest made. Closed her eyes, tilted her head back. "I have something to tell you."

The girl – no, young lady, glanced at her from her spot on the floor. She was pretty, thick black hair hanging in a straight fall across her shoulders, partway hiding her face. Normally she wore it in a braid, but she hadn't been planning on going anywhere today. Not for a long while. Not while Nan was sick.

"Come closer." She wheezed, one hand twirling in the air absently. She caught the fire swirl with the movement, felt her heart clench. "Come closer and listen carefully, for I'll only be able to tell you this once." She reached forward, cupped the young woman's cheeks when she was finally close enough. "No notes. Keep what I say in your head." Her voice had dropped to a pained whisper. "When the time is right, you'll know who to tell. Then, and only then, can you repeat any of this."

"Nan?" The younger one breathed, serious for once.

The lady known as Nan steeled herself, met innocent eyes. "I am going to die." She said calmly, "And I don't want to die with secrets burdening my soul. It's time to let myself be free. When I pass I want to do so without judgement." She waited for the nod.

When she saw it, she took a deep breath and she began to unravel the lies she'd worked half of her life to spin.

With a light heart and tired eyes, she watched the one she'd raised as her own get into the beat up car they had someone managed to keep. She watched it drive away, the one inside never glancing back – just as she'd been told.

For the first time in a long time, she smiled. She had done her part.


End file.
